


Just Static

by Jessadilla (wobblyarms)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aliens, Being Lost, Blood and Gore, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, POV Alternating, Pidge uses she/her and they/them, Science Fiction, Self Confidence Issues, Slow Burn, Space Battles, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-07-27 12:17:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 84,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7617793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wobblyarms/pseuds/Jessadilla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>--Static----<br/>-iro, Hunk, Kei---, nybody? I’m----<br/>-static--<br/>--I’m sorry guys. This is all my--<br/>--static--cc--<br/>---I found my coordinates. They’re--<br/>-stttcc-<br/>-guys. I hear something---<br/>--scccc-<br/>-end transmission-</p><p>Alone on a hostile planet, transmissions aren't getting through. How did it come to this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'll Do Better

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind: All instances of interrupted transmissions/static are in the present unless otherwise stated.  
> Also: All instances that mention the phrase "earlier" are referring to earlier than the present aka static instances. I hope it doesn't get too confusing going out of order but always feel free to ask and I'll clarify the best I can, or edit what I can to help it make more sense!
> 
> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy it!

Static------

\---nanbody hear m-----

\---static------

-iro, Hunk, Kei---, nybody? I’m----

\---static-

\---ing so great. We’re in trouble. ----crashed landed----planet. ----Guys?-----it.---

\---static----

-end transmission-

 

**5 days earlier: Afternoon**

“Focus, Lance!” Shiro’s voice was more stern than usual. His patience was noticeably slipping.

“I _got_ this!” Lance acknowledged, trying to mask his wincing from the blow he had just taken. He grounded his feet, taking another defensive stance. The training bot readied itself. Shiro and the other paladins stood to the side of the training deck, watching anxiously. They had all mastered this level. Lance was the last one to test, and he was having trouble getting through it.

“Remember, anticipate where it will be. Your aim is fine, but your reaction timing...” Shiro started, trying to find the level of calm he usually possessed.

“Of course,” Lance interrupted, his cocky smile hiding how he really felt. He was _not_ about to let the others know he was feeling the least bit dejected. Especially not Keith, whose eyes he felt more than anyone else’s; Lance _knew_ \--knew it was because he was judging him more harshly than the rest of the crew.

“Begin training sequence,” Shiro said loudly.

“You got this, man!” Hunk said, still Lance’s one man pep squad.

Lance’s grip tightened on his bayard as he tried to clear his mind. He had a team depending on him and a universe that depended on all of them. Now was the time to really step up. There was no room for error. The bot advanced on him and Lance sidestepped to avoid getting a slice in his arm. His bayard transformed and Lance created distance between himself and the bot to get in a good shot. Except the bot seemed to expect this and zigzagged while quickly closing the gap between them. Lance fired off two shots then ducked to miss a right hook, sliding past the bot to flank it. The bot turned quickly to face him again, it’s sword grazing Lance’s back.

“It’s too fast!” Lance shouted in anger, already completely frustrated.

“Enemies aren’t going to wait for you to get into position, Lance. They’ll strike hard and fast. You need to be ready to counter them!” Shiro said sternly.

Pidge’s arms were crossed, from both impatience and anxiety. Pidge wanted Lance to win this round, but the likely outcome was defeat. Hunk, meanwhile, had his fists pressed up against his face, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, uncertain of what to expect and nervous for his friend. His eyes, however, were determined and confident. Keith’s body was tense and he leaned forward as though he was a spectator to a sport and his team was losing. Shiro had forbidden him from talking after yet another argument had broken out between Lance and him when, earlier, Keith tried to tell him how to improve his chances. So he watched, intense as ever, mumbling to himself the advice he would rather be shouting at Lance.

“He’s lasting longer,” Hunk said quietly beneath his fists.

“Are you counting the seconds, Hunk?” Pidge asked, eyebrow raised.

“Ticks,” Hunk answered, before wincing as Lance took another blow from the bot’s sword.

“If this were real…” Keith muttered before stopping himself abruptly. His tone was indiscernible to the others.

Lance was out of breath. All he was doing was evading. He was hardly getting a shot in. He’d taken out the Galra drones before, so why was this one bot so damn impossible?

“Check your _distance_!” Shiro shouted as the bot, again, closed the gap between itself and Lance.

“It’s _faster_ than me!” Lance shouted back, not bothering to mask his irritation. Embarrassment was creeping in quickly.

“Watch your left!” Shiro shouted. The bot was sussing out Lance’s weak spots and moving in ever closer.

“Oh, SCREW THIS!” Lance cried out angrily. He shot his weapon off, rapid fire, at the bot, grazing it, but failing to keep a gap open. The bot proceeded to knock him back and his weapon flew from his hand, transforming back to its initial state.

“End training sequence,” Shiro said. His tone had grown quiet, but darker. The bot dissipated, leaving Lance alone to groan on the floor.

“Lance, you can’t just go berserk like that! You could have hurt a teammate; or yourself!”

“In case you weren’t paying attention, I believe the bot is what hurt me,” Lance wasn’t going to let total abdominal pain keep him from using his snark effectively, no sir.

“I’m serious! You need to take this _seriously_!” Shiro practically shouted.

“I _AM_!” Lance _definitely_ shouted. He inhaled deeply. “I am. I’m sorry. I’ll do better,” Lance said quietly. Shiro’s expression dropped from frustration to concern. “Let’s take a break,” Shiro said to everyone while offering his arm to Lance. Lance grabbed it and groaned as he picked his bruised and aching body off the ground. He stretched-- immediately regretting the decision as several new aches made themselves known. “We’ll pick back up here in a few hours,” Shiro said. He put a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Get some rest. Try not to think so hard, it’ll happen,” Shiro said.

Lance forced a smile at the encouragement, not sure if Shiro even believed what he was saying.

“There isn’t something else bothering you, is there?” Shiro asked. Lance let out a sharp breath, it was supposed to be a laugh but his body did not get the memo.

“No, I’ll be fine. I _am_ fine. I’m just tired,” Lance said, trying to keep up a pretense of ease. His eyes darted around the room, looking for the other paladins. Hunk was walking towards him while Pidge seemed apathetic to the entire thing, already shuffling out of the room. Probably back to her computer. Keith stood in the same spot he had been while watching Lance battle the bot. Waiting for Shiro, no doubt. Probably to complain about Lance and how he was holding the team back.

“Alright, well, get some rest then,” Shiro said, his concern not waning.

“Let’s get some food in you,” Hunk said as he walked up beside Lance. “You need to refuel!” Hunk’s tone was nothing but supportive and pleasant, but it wasn’t what Lance wanted to hear right now.

“Hunk, buddy, I just got the wind punched out of me by a robot. I kinda just want to lay down for a bit,” Lance said, his forced smile not wavering for a moment.

“Oh, okay, sure. I’ll whip something up for you and bring it to you later,” Hunk said. The frost behind Lance’s smile melted slightly. Considerate Hunk had that effect. Kind of reminded Lance of his grandma.

“Sure. Sounds good, my man. Nice tub of goo will cheer me right up!” Lance teased.

“Hey! I was able to find some edible foods from the last planet we visited. Oooo, Lance, you’re in for a _real treat_!” Hunk said, rubbing his hands together and walking towards the main doorway.

Lance smiled in spite of himself, until he looked up and noticed that Shiro quickly said something to Keith before leaving him in the same spot he had been the entire session. Shiro and Hunk were gone and it was just Keith between Lance and an exit. Lance used the remainder of his strength to mask how exhausted his body was and attempted to stride past Keith in his usual manner. Keith’s arms were crossed now and Lance could tell he wanted to say something. He chose to ignore his own curiosity. He knew it would lead to an argument he had no energy for. Most of their conversations did these days. Lance knew it was entirely his fault, picking fights when there was no reason, but he wasn’t about to admit that to anyone; especially not Shiro’s Golden Child, Keith.

The dip in Lance’s confidence was his best kept secret. In fact, if anything, he was more of a showboat than ever in an attempt to cover his tracks. But Lance had begun to worry there was little to no skill to legitimize his claims of greatness. His worries were piling up these days. Pidge had mastered her bayard in a very short time. And although Hunk’s skills consisted of his brute strength and a shoulder cannon that could barely miss a target, Lance _did_ notice improvement in Hunk’s approach and battle tactics. Then there was Keith, advanced over the others, only second to Shiro when it came to battle. Hell, sometimes Keith could give Shiro a run for his money when Shiro wasn’t at his best. So why the hell wasn't Lance advancing alongside his peers? Lance hated feeling envious. It was not how he was raised. He just wanted to be a better asset to the team. He wanted to have value.

“Lance,” Keith said calmly. Lance had barely walked past him. This guy was not going to let it rest, was he?

“What, Keith? What? Have more ‘advice’ for me?” Lance threw up air quotes and even his fingers felt stiff and achy. “Gonna tell me how to NOT get my butt handed to me? Or do you just feel like gloating?” Lance said, already giving up the facade of a cool demeanor. Keith sighed in response before speaking.

“Your bayard,” Keith pointed to the floor of the training deck, where the blue bayard had flown when knocked out of Lance’s hand. Lance saw the distance between him and the bayard and could not hold in the slight whimper. His legs were practically shaking in protest in having to walk back to it. Keith sighed again and jogged to grab it. He jogged back to Lance, who was still wearing a sour expression. Keith held out the bayard and Lance grabbed it weakly, managing a begrudging “thanks” in the process.

“Sure,” Keith said. Lance raised an eyebrow, suspicious that Keith was not saying more. But another wave of exhaustion hit him, and suddenly he was only curious about how hard it would be to sleep in his paladin armor. He turned away and left the training deck in silence.

 


	2. An Agreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder: All interrupted/static transmissions are in the present unless stated otherwise. :)  
> Thanks for reading!

\-----static-

 

\------ink my comm is work----

\---static-----

\---ybe out of range? I don’t kn-------spossible.---

-static-

 

\---en recording on a distress beaco----ure if its gonna-----------sworth a tr----

\------static---------------------------------------

 

\------might-----broken l------but on------ding heavil--------as bad as my train------sions. Heh-----

 

\-----static----

\---am---

-end transmission-

**5 days earlier: Evening**

Lance sighed heavily. He was lying in his bunk in full armor, drifting in and out of a restless sleep. He knew sleep was not the answer to whatever issues he was having in training. Sleep was not a problem with Lance. He had four older sisters and brothers. If he could sleep in on weekends through their endless noise and shenanigans, he could sleep through anything. Another sigh. He never thought he’d miss his brothers’ punches or his sisters’ lecturing. He had been prepared to leave them when he joined the Galaxy Garrison, but there was never a threat that he might not be able to see them again. His mother’s cooking and singing, his father’s shouting at the tv and eventual snoring when he dozed off in front of it. He had missed these things since he went away to school, but it wasn’t so palpable. It was lingering in the back of his mind, easily pushed down. But the silence rang in his ears now.

Lance had made an attempt to talk to Hunk, but Hunk did not like to dwell. He missed his family too (quite a bit actually) but he knew there were more important matters to consider. Protecting them was more important than being with them; that’s what he told Lance anyway. Plus Hunk had a way of making everyone he came across a member of his honorary family. He was so busy taking care of the other paladins, he didn’t leave himself much time to worry about what he was missing at home. But for Lance to trade in the love and support of several family members for a handful of friends who all had something they were going through, the deficiency was a harsh slap in the face. His support system was gone and in its place was a makeshift family, threadbare, and held together by duty rather than familial connection.

Which was not to say that the other paladins meant nothing to him. He and Hunk had a connection before this whole mess started; a connection one could only get from being forced to spend an exorbitant amount of time in a small living space with one another. When it came to Hunk and Lance, they knew where the bodies were buried, which would be a much more apt cliche if Hunk had a devious bone in his body. The point was that they were solid. But aside from the one major connection, the others were still in the process of growing on him, and vice versa. Lance couldn’t burden Hunk all of the time with his homesickness, or complain to him about his occasional lack in the confidence department. Lance didn’t even want anyone to know how he was feeling about his skills.  

His family would have seen it in him. His entire extended family could see past his posturing and bravado and know there was a part of him that was scared and not feeling up to the task. They would not have needed him to say he was feeling unworthy to have supportive words ready for him and to tell him he was not. Lance’s family was not the type to ever be short on encouragement and building up one’s self-esteem. And while that was very likely the cause of Lance’s being at constant odds with his own hubris, it was also what pushed Lance as far as he had gotten in the first place. They were indirectly responsible for Lance first stepping into the Blue Lion as if it was a destiny being fulfilled.

So, imagine tons of voices shouting at you constantly to push you forward and help you succeed at all you attempt, only to have them abruptly silenced. Imagine suddenly having only your own voice to push you forward, to tell you that you’re good enough and that you belong. It was not as effective. Space was so quiet.

On top of that, everyone else was already so worried about failing and so focused on a collective goal of defending an entire universe, Lance hardly felt right in asking them to focus on him and let him know he wasn’t screwing anything up. That would be selfish.

“Pull yourself together, Lance,” he mumbled to himself and weakly hit the wall against his bed. It coincided with a knock on his door. “Come in,” Lance said, without thinking, assuming it must be Hunk with some food. The door slid open. “I’m surprised it took you this long,” Lance said, not sitting up from his spot on the bed.

“Well I wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to bring you a tray of food,” Keith’s voice hit his ears. Lance shot up in bed, hitting his head against the wall in the process. “AH!” Lance grabbed the back of his head, putting pressure against the spot of pain. “What’s the matter with you?” Keith shouted from surprise. He put the tray down on the nearest surface and walked to the side of Lance’s bed. Keith had never been in his room before. Aside from a few belongings, it was identical to his room. He wasn’t sure why he expected anything different.

“Nothing’s the matter with me, KEITH," Lance grumbled loudly before a hiss escaped between his teeth as the throbbing in his head continued. “What are you doing here? I thought you were _Hunk_.” Lance’s attitude was attached to him like a leech. He wasn’t sure he could be amiable even if he wanted to right now. His body ached, his head was now throbbing and he was probably going to get a welt, and now Keith was in his room, looking at him with his usual stern gaze.

“Coran asked him and Pidge to help with some ship maintenance so I offered to take your food to you,” Keith explained. His eyes were searching around the room.

“Well, you did. You can go now,” Lance said, waving a hand in dismissal. He continued rubbing his head with his other hand. Keith scoffed but Lance did not seem concerned by it. “You’re welcome!” Keith said in a huff as he walked towards the door. Lance thought to say something rude, but nothing came to mind. He noticed Keith paused at his door.

“If you’re waiting for a…” Lance began, but Keith quickly cut him off.

“I thought we were getting along. I know we aren't best friends or anything, not even close, but... I thought we were...better,” Keith said solemnly, still facing the door.

“You..huh? What? What are you talking about?” Lance pushed himself up from his bed to stand eye level with the guy brooding in his doorway. Keith turned to face him and Lance was surprised to see some emotion in his eyes. He stepped forward a few steps to face Lance more directly.

“I was only trying to help you earlier and you bit my head off! But even before that, you’ve been a colossal jerk lately.” Keith was nothing if not blunt. Unfortunately, Lance was full of hot air. He wanted to defend himself, regardless of how factual Keith’s statement happened to be.

“Yeah right. You weren’t trying to help, you were trying to show off to Shiro. _Again_. To show him how much more you know than the rest of us!” Lance immediately regretted the petty words spewing from his mouth, but he was not about to take them back.

“That’s ridiculous, Lance! If anyone’s a show off, it’s you! You’re constantly bragging!” Keith said as he pointed a finger in Lance’s face. Lance backed up and sat down in his bed, crossing his arms. His body was rigid and he had never been more uncomfortable in this bed.

“All I know is that Shiro is constantly praising you and pointing out what a good job you’re doing, and you just eat it up!” Lance sneered at Keith, whose fists were clenching tighter by the second.

“That’s..not true. I don’t care about praise and attention. I can’t help it if I’m…” Keith stopped himself, realizing he needed to choose his next words carefully.

“What? What, Keith? Better than us?” Lance was glaring now.

“No! That’s not what I was…..argh. What do you care what Shiro says to me anyway?”

“Because he’s so busy focusing on all your showing off that he doesn’t notice how hard the rest of us are...trying,” Lance said, his voice dying with each work he spoke. Lance almost cringed. He was being too obvious now.

“So you’re mad at me because you want..more attention from Shiro?” Keith tried to comprehend. His voice had calmed again and his eyes were squinting at Lance in utter confusion. “No! God, what am I? Some school kid with a crush? It’s not like that,” Lance retorted instantly.

“Well then help me understand! What’s bothering you?” There it was again. That sincere tone of Keith’s that only worked to confuse Lance. He looked up to see Keith’s eyes staring him down expectantly.

“What’s the point, Keith? It doesn’t matter. Just go so I can try and get back to the nap you interrupted!” Lance laid back down on his bed in a rather dramatic fashion.

“Lance, just TELL me!” Keith shouted, exasperated. It was like pulling teeth trying to get a straight answer from Lance, and it was exhausting. “Please,” he added in a softer tone. The plea caught Lance off guard. It wasn’t a word he heard him use often.

Before he could stop himself he spoke.“I don’t want to be responsible for bringing the team down,” Lance said, turning away to face the wall along his bed. “I get it, you’ve had more training, you have _natural talent and instincts_ which is why Big Red chose you. But I worked my butt off to get into the garrison, and I _still_ only entered as a cargo pilot. If you hadn’t been kicked out, I probably wouldn’t even be here right now. And as if that doesn’t make me feel shitty enough, my classmates who had no formal pilot training whatsoever are already on par with me. Hunk couldn’t even be in a moving ship when this started, and now he’ll probably pass me up. You’re all advancing in combat training too, and I can’t even take down a single bot.” Lance could not seem to stop his insecurities from spilling from his mouth. A floodgate had been opened and it was all Lance could do to control the flow.

“I guess I’ve been taking this out on you. Shiro constantly tells you how good you’re doing, tells you how impressive your skills are. But for me it’s always like ‘you’ll get there, Lance. Just keep trying’. But I don’t know if I believe him. I don’t even know if he believes it.” Lance exhaled. He could feel the heat gathered in his face and wondered just how red it was after unloading his sob story onto Keith --of all people. He hoped Keith had decided to just leave quietly while he was talking, but he wasn’t willing to turn around to check. Instead, he silently stared at the outline of the plates in the wall.

“He used to say those things to me,” Keith said after a minute. His arms were folded against his chest and his overall pose was much more relaxed than when Lance started speaking. “Well, not those _exact_ things. His advice was more about me finding patience. He still has to remind me all the time. He’s just been my mentor for a lot longer. He probably tells me when I’ve done well because he saw my improvement firsthand, mostly. I don’t know, you’d have to ask Shiro. But I do know he’s proud of you. Of all of us. He thinks you’re doing a good job, Lance.” There was a moment of silence before Lance turned over to face Keith.

“What about you?” Lance stared coolly into Keith’s navy colored eyes. Keith stepped back, completely surprised by the question. He raised an arm as if to block the words from reaching him.

“ _What_ ? What about _me_?” Keith suddenly felt flustered and his face was turning a shade of red to match his jacket.

“You did say I was the _‘worst pilot ever_ ’,” Lance said, his voice as cool as his stare. “Do you still think that?” It was another thing he hated about himself, but deep down, Keith’s opinion did mean a lot to him. Keith sighed and his feet led him forward a few steps.

“Lance, I was just freaked out. We were in an alien ship, going who knows where. You were pulling crazy stunts. Why are you even bringing that up?” Keith seemed visibly nervous now. Or was it embarrassment? Lance had trouble reading him, as usual.

“I don’t know, forget I said anything. In fact, do me a favor and forget everything I’ve said since you came in here. Sorry for being a jerk lately. A bigger jerk. Whatever. I’ll try to...stop that.” Lance was about to turn over again, but Keith stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. Lance winced from a prior injury and Keith quickly removed his hand.

“I don’t think you’re a bad pilot. And even if I did, you’re forgetting that the most important opinion of all isn’t mine. Or even Shiro’s,” Keith said. His tone was bordering on that of a lecture.

“You mean Allura?” Lance supposed she knew better than anyone who deserved to be a paladin.

Keith sighed. “No. _The Blue Lion_. It chose you, Lance. It didn’t let down its barrier for anyone else in the cave that day. Whatever you’re doing, it likes your style. And it will only help you get better at piloting, so just keep working with it.” Lance felt like an idiot for missing such an obvious clue, and a bigger idiot still for never coming to that realization on his own.

“Heh, you almost sound like Shiro,” Lance said, cracking his first real smile all day. Keith rolled his eyes, but returned the smile in earnest. Just as quickly as his smile appeared, however, his expression became serious again.

“Okay, so, listen Lance, before you say anything, hear me out.” Keith began. Lance’s smile faded slightly and he raised an eyebrow, surprised by the immediate shift in tone. “I can help you with your combat training. I want to help you. You’re obviously skilled at ranged fighting. Your aim is precise and generally not reckless. You’re also good at observing and strategizing. The problem mainly lies when you have no time to come up with a good plan. Mix that with enemies taking away the ranged advantage, and you’re kind of a mess,” Keith stated bluntly and quickly, as though he had been practicing this speech for a while.

“Hey!” Lance said. Keith may have been completely accurate but Lance’s ego never cared much for facts. “I’m not trying to insult you, really. You’ve taken down several Galra drones before. in seconds! But those drones are predictable, expendable. They don’t have self-preservation, only orders to destroy. The bot, during the sessions, becomes less predictable, and is better at predicting what you’re going to do next. They’re more like enemies with survival instincts.”

“So you’re saying I can only beat an easy enemy?” Lance grimaced, beginning to feel a bit insulted, despite Keith’s previous assurances otherwise.

“No. But you're acting like all enemies should behave the same. You got frustrated and unfocused. You got tunnel vision, only seeing what was in front of you, not where it would be next for you to strike. That’s something I can help with, if you’re willing to train with me,” Keith held out his hand over Lance. Lance only now noticed the close proximity of Keith, standing over his bed as he laid in it. He sat up, carefully this time, and created a bit of space between him and Keith.

Lance batted Keith’s hand away from him. “What are you doing?” Lance smirked and laughed through his nose.

“Shake on it..?” Keith looked at his hand and offered it to Lance again.

Lance laughed louder. “Keith, that’s so _old school_. You’re like an old man. Let’s just bump it,” Lance said, holding his fist out in front of Keith’s hand. Keith did not move and merely looked at the hand. “You. Make. A. Fist. Too,” Lance spoke slowly in a mocking tone. Keith gave him a sharp look and rolled his eyes. “I know what a fist bump is!”

“Weeeellllll?” Lance shook his fist in the air. Keith smirked. “So this means you’re accepting my help?” Keith’s brows raised and a smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth in hope. Lance failed to stifle his own smile. “Not if you leave me hangin’, bro!” Lance negotiated.

Keith bumped his fist against Lance’s so gently, they barely even touched. Keith let his smile win, feeling pleased with the new arrangement. Lance looked away suddenly, and Keith stepped back towards the door.

“I’ll let you eat and rest. We can start training together tomorrow morning?” Keith looked back as the doors slid open in front of him.

“Bright and early,” Lance said, making a finger gun motion. Keith shot him a dubious look before leaving his room. Lance stood and stretched, noticing this time that his body did not cry out in protest. He walked to the tray of food on his only shelf and began picking at various items. If he knew Hunk, it would taste good no matter what it was made out of. He hoped he wasn’t allergic to any strange food from exotic planets as he shoveled it into his mouth.

 

\-------

 

The break was over and Lance walked down the main hall to get to the training deck. He made a turn and Hunk ran into him from another hallway. They continued their trek to the training deck together.

“Hunk, thank you for that..whatever thing. With the coils? It was so good,” Lance said holding his hand against his stomach.

“I had a feeling you’d like those,” Hunk said satisfactorily. If there was an ounce of pride or conceit in Hunk’s entire body, it was entirely related to his cooking skills. “Yeah, well you were right, man. But anyway, how went the maintenance? Did Coran just start prattling on about his days in boot camp?” Lance smirked and looked over to Hunk, whose expression was blatant confusion.

“Huh? Coran? I wasn’t with Coran. I was with Pidge. In the mess hall? Pidge was going over some theoretical fusion boosters to our jetpacks. It was actually pretty intriguing, I’m wondering if we can….Lance? Are you listening?” Hunk stopped his story when he noticed a look of suspicion on his friend’s face.

“I...why did Keith bring me my food then?” Lance looked up to see Pidge a few yards coming from the direction opposite them and then turning into the training deck entryway.

“I don’t know actually. I was about to bring it to you but then he insisted I let him do it. And I said ‘Keith, I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ but he was really insistent about it so I just let him. Then Pidge started talking about that incredible theory….hey, is something wrong? Did he say something to you?” Lance’s brows were furrowed in thought. He looked over to Hunk and saw the worry taking hold immediately. Lance patted his friend’s shoulder and waved the idea away with his other hand.

“Nothing’s the matter. I guess I must’ve misunderstood him. Anyway,” Lance said as they arrived at the training deck door. “It’s time for me to get my butt kicked again.” Lance said, smiling in spite of his words.

“You’ll do great, Lance!” Hunk said enthusiastically. Lance knew that Hunk believed it. He’d try not to let him down. When they entered the room, Keith was already waiting against the side of the training deck and Pidge was walking to join him. Keith briefly glanced up at Lance through the hair in his face, then averted his gaze back to whatever was so interesting on the ground in front of him. Lance smiled and raised a curious eyebrow, but his eyes switched focus to Shiro as he approached. Hunk gave Lance a thumbs up before heading to stand by the other paladins.

“Ready to try again?” Shiro asked with an encouraging smile when he reached Lance. Lance responded with his usual cocky smile, and it was the first time in a while that it wasn't a facade.

“Let’s do this!”

 


	3. Disjointed

\---static-

\--been----new frequencies. I think I’m just... too far out of range? Which sucks, consider---------uries----

-static----

\--sschannel seems to be clearer. Voltron Paladins, this is Lance. Hey. My coordi-----crud I don’t know, and Blue is down for the count at------------------------------------------------------------dsupplies are, well I have plenty, but I can’t wa----

\----static-------

\---Hhhhhuh------I’m sorry guys. This is all my----------

\-----------static------

-end transmission-

**14 hours earlier**

“What is going _on_ out there? Can someone _please_ respond?” Allura was frantic. She felt Voltron separate in the heat of battle with Galra forces mere moments earlier and none of the paladins were responsive. For the moment the castle was out of range of any danger, but that would not be the case if Allura had to jump through a wormhole to find them. Which, in all honesty, she was not even entirely sure that was possible. It’s why she and Coran stayed behind in the first place. Neither one of them was sure the Castle could withstand the instability. And the moment the paladins had reached the other side, the radio communication had been spotty at best. Visual communication was down completely.

“--Llura? All--- do you copy?” It was Shiro. For a tick, the tightness in Allura’s chest was at ease.

“Shiro, I copy! Can you hear me?” Static was her only response. Allura groaned in frustration. She hated not knowing what was happening. She hated not being with them to help.

“Princess, there still appears to be a great deal of interference, just as before,” Coran stated, tapping frantically at one of the many screens in front of him. “Perhaps whatever is causing it is also causing the wormhole to become unstable.”  

“What? How? What's causing it?” She turned her head so quickly it was a miracle her neck didn’t snap. Coran could see the fear in her expression and was sure his own expression was mirroring it exactly. "Could it be the Galra?"

“I’m trying to find out, Princess. Just try to get ahold of the Paladins while I try to work this out!” Coran said, his voice was much more confident than his body language let on.

“Right!” Allura turned back to the map. “Paladins! Shiro? Pidge? Any of you? If you can hear me, we’re having interference on our communication lines. I need to know your status! Please respond!”

“---trical interference. This is insane!” Pidge’s voice came through for a moment, then popped back out.

“What? Oh god, oh god, oh------. Pidge! They’re trying to flank---” Hunk’s voice rang clear for a moment. He sounded extremely alarmed.

“Shiro----two o’clock. Oh sh----. Lance! _Lance_ , watch you----” Keith’s voice was strained. Worry and the sound of his ever-present anger boiling just beneath. Allura and Coran could hear Keith grunting and shouting for a few more ticks before the static silenced him again.

Allura tried several more times to reach the paladins, but none seemed to hear her. Between bouts of static, she could hear moments of their battles. Their fears, their small victories. They were each alone out there, one lion against a fleet. Or at least Allura assumed that must be what it felt like when they had no way of connecting to each other or offering support. Something else troubled her as well. She had not heard Lance at all. In and out they all were accounted for, giving Allura and Coran bits and pieces of their battle. But not a word from the Blue Paladin. Not even his usual celebratory whooping when he took down an enemy or was otherwise pleased with himself. She regretfully recalled the times the team had told him to be silent; but now Allura was desperate for some of his usual silly phrases or noises. Anything. The static grew louder with each passing tick, and each minute was drawn out and felt unbearably long.

“Should we go in, Princess? Extract them? I’m not even sure the wormhole can hold out much longer,” Coran was trying to keep his voice calm, but Allura knew him too well to hear the underlying anxiety in every word. She knew Coran cared for them and was just as impatient as she was to help them. Before Allura could respond, a voice came through the static once more.

“---Llura, do you copy? I’m pulling us out of-----. We’re practically fighting blind out ---. We’re coming through the wor------. Please, tell me you copy,” Shiro’s voice sounded tired and defeated and Allura felt a momentary ache before relief set in.

“I copy, Shiro. The wormhole won’t hold for much longer. We’ll see you all soon,” Allura said, her spirits already picking up. At least they’d have the Paladins back and could devise another plan and put some distance between themselves and this horrible system. They would be safe for now. That’s all that mattered. Perhaps when Pidge and Coran and Hunk worked together they’d figure out just what this interference was. Allura’s shoulders lifted in relief as she saw the Green and Yellow Lions come through their side of the wormhole. Her hands were clasped together in anticipation of the rest of them.

"Good to see you two. Your hangars are open," Coran said happily.

"Copy," Pidge said. Hunk also gave an affirmative before they flew to their docking bays.

The static over the comms was coming through again. Allura’s ear twitched. She was picking up more than static. She looked back to Coran, fearful. She could see by his expression that he could hear it as well. A low, raspy breathing. More static, then more breathing. It was only seconds of this before a grunt, followed by a short shout. A chill surged through Allura’s entire body. It was Lance. She turned back to the wormhole. Even if she had not been trained for years to notice the changes in wormholes, her body could feel it breaking down little by little. There was nothing but static coming in again.

“What was that?” Pidge asked, voice tense and anxious.

“Lance? Was that Lance? Where are the other Lions? Um…Allura do you see anything?” Hunk rambled fearfully.

"I..I...I don't..." Allura kept her eyes on the wormhole. In another tick, Allura watched the Red Lion fall through the wormhole, as if by accident. Allura felt her heart rate increase. The wormhole was very close to collapsing.

“Shiro? Lance? You must come through immediately. The wormhole only has...seconds left!” Allura shouted. Allura had dropped the learned patience of her position and let the panic in her voice come through. “Shiro, Lance? Do either of you copy?” The wormhole brightened. The usual blue beams flashed a bright purple and the wormhole was sucked into nothingness.

“NO!” They heard Keith shout in utter distress. Allura held her breath and brought up the location of the wormhole on her screen to see exactly what Keith was reacting to. For a moment she was ready to breathe again. The Black Lion was where the wormhole used to be. Allura's eyes widened.

“Where’s Lance?” Coran asked quietly from behind her. He realized just as quickly as she had, that the Blue Lion was not with them.

 


	4. Bright and Early

-static-

\-------nice. It’s raining...water, not rocks. That’s a--------

\----static--

\---ish I could feel it.--------hhuh-huhh----

\----------

\---static-----cc--

-end transmission-

  
  


**4 days earlier: Morning**

“Keith, when I said ‘bright and early’ what I really meant was 'soft light', and maybe like _after_ the sun was up.” Lance was in his bed, hugging his pillow for dear life. Keith stood in his doorway with crossed arms and what passed as a chipper expression.

“Lance, there is no sun-up. We’re in space,” Keith informed his groggy friend. Lance’s grip tightened on his pillow. “It’s a metaphor,” Lance said through a yawn.

“No it isn’t.” Keith walked to his bed and put his foot to the nearest lump under Lance’s blanket. He gave it two gentle stomps.

“Ow! HEY! Precious cargo under here,” Lance said, finally opening his eyes. Keith let out a sharp, mocking laugh.

“Come on! Get up then,” he ordered. Lance scoffed. Keith lifted his foot again, ready to do what had to be done.

“Fine, Fine! Gimme a minute to…” Lance sat up and noticed Keith’s clothing. His usual all black ensemble (minus that loud motorcycle jacket of course) was replaced with a black tank and a lighter pair of tight black pants with red stripes zig-zagging down the sides and grayish panels in the front. Trying to ignore the fact that they looked good and focus on his sense of indignation, Lance spoke, much louder than he had intended, “you’re not even ready. You’re just in regular clothes!”

“These are what we’ll be wearing. I’m just showing you the basics today, I don’t even know if we’ll break out the combat bots,” Keith explained, walking to the wall opposite of Lance’s bed.

“What, that sounds...wait, where did you get those anyway?” Lance asked, standing from his bed and stretching. As far as he knew, no one had time to pack. Aside from the armor and a few sets of pajamas for everyone, he hadn’t really seen anyone in anything aside from the clothes they were wearing when they all left earth.

“From my closet,” Keith said in an obvious tone.

“You get a closet?” Lance nearly shrieked, incredulous. Lance's mouth hung open as he waited for Keith to respond. Instead, Keith touched a panel on the wall and one of the wall panels slid to the side, revealing a doorway. A series of soft blue lights blinked on as though they, too, were woken abruptly from their sleep. Lance trudged towards the doorway in disbelief.

“This has been here the _entire_ _time_?” Lance waved his arm wildly as he spoke. He had already forgotten about his comfortable bed and disrupted sleep. He walked into the closet. The size and length were much larger than one would expect to be hidden behind a wall. Never in his life had he been granted a walk-in closet. He had felt lucky when his eldest brother moved away from home and he could have a 2x2 closet all to himself. The man was awestruck. He shuffled quickly through the clothing. A lot of blue popped out at him.

“They’re really attached to this color coding idea, hm,” he said quietly to himself. Suddenly he wondered if he’d ever get to wear purple, or teal again. Teal really brought out his eyes, he thought, pouting. He turned to look at the closet in its entirety. Though the length of the closet was impressive, the width left something to be desired; surrounded by hanging clothes on either side, with extra shelving and cubby units towards the back.

“Okay so where’s the athletic stuff? All I’m seeing is weird shirts and..what is this? A raincoat? That ain’t gonna protect from Altean rain if what Coran said was true. Hmmm, lots of turtlenecks and, whoa-ho-ho, is this considered formal wear on Altea? So much fringe!” Lance smirked, tugging a full suit out of its spot. He heard Keith groan impatiently and then come into the doorway.

“Quit getting distracted! We’re wasting time,” Keith barked. He slid into the closet and attempted to move past Lance, finding the task difficult as Lance clumsily tried to move out of his way.

“Lance,” Keith said sternly. He planted his hands firmly on Lance’s shoulders to hold him still. “Stay.” Keith commanded in a tone that somehow was both soft and authoritative. He squeezed past Lance’s stiff body, his shoulders brushing against Lance’s tense chest, and some of his unmanaged hair brushing against Lance’s face. “Okay,” Keith said, moving towards a cubby that sat below the end of hanging clothes and adjacent to built-in shelving. Focusing on grabbing the proper attire, he failed entirely to notice the shades of red Lance was alternating through. Lance shuffled back towards the door, practically falling into the hanging clothes behind him. Keith grabbed a shirt and pants and stood.

“Here,” he said, tossing them to Lance. Lance’s arms shot out to catch the flying clothes, which he did (if just barely). “If that’s a preview of your hand-to-eye coordination, we’re in for a long day,” Keith said. Lance could not tell if he was serious or joking, but felt the appropriate response, regardless, was to flip him off. Keith shrugged while smiling, and followed Lance out of the closet.

Lance was already taking off his shirt and throwing it on the bed when Keith stepped out. Growing up in a large family had the double-edged side effect of constantly craving privacy but also having a high tolerance of comfort levels and not necessarily caring about or needing privacy in moments when others might.

“I’ll...uh, wait outside,” Keith muttered as he stepped quickly to the door. Lance was pulling on the gray tank that Keith had tossed to him and entirely missed the opportunity to witness Keith's impression of a tomato.

“Hm?” Lance raised an eyebrow and shrugged as the sliding doors closed. He grabbed the pants that were identical to Keith’s save for the red being switched out for blue, examining them more closely, and sighing. “These aren’t going to leave much to the imagination,” he said to himself in a dismal tone.

\-----

Lance sat against a wall in the training deck, slowly chewing on what could only possibly be the green goo in the form of a gelatinous bar. He didn’t even want to ask where Keith got ahold of these, though he wondered if Hunk had anything to do with them. Keith was stretching out, having already finished his “bar”.

“Do you do this...everyday?” Lance asked between chews. His mom would have given him a whack square on the back of his head for speaking with food in his mouth. Space meant getting away with things his mother would flay him for back at home. They were definitely far enough away from her for her to use her _poderes mágicos de mamá,_ (his mom's silly, yet effectively scary way of saying mother's intuition). He hoped what happened in space stayed in space.   

“Pretty much,” Keith said simply. He seemed hyper-focused. Lance was beginning to worry about what the red paladin had in store for him and was suddenly feeling very lazy. He got in a good amount of workout between the required training and battling the Galra. But during the team’s rare down time he was often just hanging out with Hunk, or bothering Pidge and Hunk while they tried to have some boring math discussion. Lance actually had very little idea of what Keith did outside of working out and training. He shoved the last bit of bar into his mouth and jumped to his feet.

Keith was surprisingly patient as Lance caught up with him. He tried to rush through his stretching but Keith wouldn’t allow it. When Lance tried to complain, Keith wouldn’t allow that either, holding up a hand and telling him warm-ups were not to be trifled with and were _very_ important to the process. Lance rolled his eyes but obeyed orders. But the worst part came last when Keith sprung running laps on him.

“I don’t see how this is going to help---” Lance began to complain.

“And that’s why you’ll lose,” Keith said, darting ahead of him down the length of the training deck. “What? You didn’t say it was a race!” Lance shouted after him, doing his best to catch up. Keith certainly seemed to have a handle on how to properly motivate Lance.

After five laps, Lance was sufficiently over the entire idea of training with Keith and when they hit the starting point for the fifth time he dramatically fell down to his knees, then laid down face first against the ground. The sweat was already sliding down to the floor, pooling at the spots where his skin made contact with the floor.

“Please tell the others how I died. That you killed me, in the most barbaric way imaginable,” Lance said dramatically through deep breaths. Keith let out an airy laugh, once again diverting from Lance’s expectations. He wasn’t used to Keith enjoying his company.

“You’re kind of a big baby,” Keith said, stifling the rest of his laughter. Lance smiled into the floor before turning over and sitting up.

“I am merely reacting appropriately to the situation at hand,” Lance stated. He leaned back on his arms and spread his legs out in front of him, looking up at the ceiling and just breathing steadily for a moment more.

“Here,” Keith said, swinging a water bottle by its neck for a second before throwing it to Lance. It was caught without any trouble this time. “So you _can_ catch,” Keith said before taking a sip of his own water.

“This morning was just a fluke. I used to play baseball as a kid. My brothers were really into it,” Lance sighed the words out. He did not mean to think of them.

“Hm. So what about your fighting? How do you handle in hand-to-hand?” Keith asked. His attempt at changing the subject upon noticing the sudden melancholy hovering over Lance. Lance looked up, his brows knit with curiosity. “Well, two older brothers so I mean, decent,” Lance remarked. Keith shook his head and his hands were fiddling with the bottle cap.

“No, I mean real fighting, not rough-housing.” Keith screwed the cap back onto the bottle and tossed it to the side.

“If you had brothers, you’d know how rough-housing can turn real in seconds.” Lance said, fondly remembering several bloody noses and bruises, aka “badges of honor”. “Anyway, one of my brothers ended up being a boxer. He showed me some defensive stuff. And I got into fights a couple times when I was younger, held my own. But I tried to stay out of that stuff,” Lance’s tone shifted as he pushed himself up off the ground. “I’m obviously a lover, not a fighter,” he informed Keith with a cheeky smile that bordered on slimy. Keith groaned despite the flush he felt in his cheeks and ears. Lance let out a short, obnoxious laugh and tossed his own water bottle to the side. “So are you just super curious about my childhood or are these questions relevant in some way to this ‘training session’,” Lance said, using air quotes.

“Relevant. Just trying to gauge where to begin. I think you should show me your defensive moves and we’ll just go from there,” Keith said, his eyes staring off at some distant point as he thought. Lance shrugged in agreement. “You’re the boss,” he said as he moved more toward the center of the room. Keith followed him.

“I hope your instructions are better than last night’s. I tried to keep in mind what you told me, but I still got my butt handed to me by that bot,” Lance said, smirking at the memory. He wasn’t too bitter about it. “It’s not about just knowing what to do, we have to teach you how to put it into practice. Develop muscle memory, and hopefully train you to rely more on your instincts,” Keith said as he took an offensive position. “I’ve seen

“It’s not about just knowing what to do, we have to teach you how to put it into practice. Develop muscle memory, and hopefully train you to rely more on your instincts,” Keith said as he took an offensive position. “I’ve seen you work through observation and even on adrenaline, but instinct isn’t….well it isn’t easy to explain. Learning to trust your body more than your brain…” Keith trailed off, not sure if he was making any sense, and suddenly feeling slightly apprehensive about his teaching skills.

Lance moved to a defensive stance, either ignoring or not noticing Keith’s sudden halt in conversation. “Listen, I know you’re helping me out here, but so help me, Keith, if you mess with my money-maker, I will be forced to destroy you,” Lance said, still smirking. Keith rolled his eyes before charging at his new opponent.

\--------

It had been over an hour since they started the training in earnest. Keith was panting and sweaty. Lance was rubbing a sore spot on his shoulder. The most recent of his unblocked hits. Keith definitely noticed an improvement in Lance’s reaction timing, but he was still missing a lot of blocking opportunities. Keith had actually proposed a break in worry that Lance would drop everything entirely from frustration. But he looked over to Lance, and he didn’t _seem_ frustrated or angry or anything like it. He was sniffing his armpit and then pulling his shirt away from his body to see how much sweat it was drenched in.

“Oh man, I gotta have Hunk smell this shirt. He said the worst smell he ever had to smell was when I forgot about that turkey sub and left it at the bottom of my hamper of dirty clothes for three weeks." Lance almost sounded proud as he chuckled. "But another hour in this shirt and I might just top that!” Lance seemed a little too chipper for just having been consistently hit and jabbed for the past hour.

“How did you not...actually I am zero percent interested. So, how are you holding up? You’ve been following my notes pretty well, for the most part,” Keith said, trying to channel his inner Shiro and be encouraging.

Lance let out a sharp laugh. “You lie. I know I’m still too slow. You’re pretty good at misdirection. I kept thinking you’d be going one way, and then you’d go another. Got plenty of badges though,” Lance said lifting his arms up to show off some bruising. Keith grimaced. “Badges? Um, do you want some ice for those or…”

“Nah, later. Training is still in session, right?” Keith couldn’t get over how positive Lance’s demeanor was. He wanted to check his temperature. Maybe he was running a fever. Maybe his goo bar had been laced with some kind of psychotropic drug. He was unnerved with how long it had been since Lance tried to pick a fight, or provoke him, or tease him in some way. He wasn’t used to Lance enjoying his company. Leave it to Lance to get along with him while they were engaged in combat.

“Well, get some water at least,” Keith suggested. He needed to do the same. They walked to their earlier discarded water bottles. Lance picked both up and handed one to Keith. He rolled it between his hands for a second before stopping and opening it.

“So, the thing about misdirection,” Keith began before taking a swig of his water, “is that it can be countered. Everyone gives off cues. Some of them are really subtle though. And that takes a long time to learn to read. I don’t even know how far you want to get into this, or how much face-to-face fighting we’re even expected to do….” Keith said. He put his bottle to his mouth and his eyes looked past his lowered brows, searching Lance’s face for an answer.

“Man, I guess I want to learn whatever you and Shiro know? I’d like to be more useful than just a placeholder pilot for Voltron, ya know? Less replaceable,” Lance said. His face screwed up, and he seemed somewhat tenser than he had seconds ago. Keith did not know what to say, unsure of how to relieve Lance’s embarrassment at admitting yet another worry to Keith. They were all replaceable. That seemed to be the point of Voltron. But Keith knew telling that to Lance would not exactly be comforting or make him feel any better about his place on the team.

“Ready to try again?” Keith asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence. Lance nodded and they dropped their bottles down again.

“Don’t go easy on me,” Lance said, shaking out his arms and rolling his head from shoulder to shoulder. He stopped. “Actually, maybe _do_ go easy on me, like a little bit easier,” Lance said, holding out his fingers to mimic a pinch while getting into his favored stance. Keith smiled and shook his head.

“I’d only do that if I didn’t think you could handle it,” Keith said. He dropped his expression to focus on his movements and planning before he lunged towards Lance at top speed. He pulled no punches, and at first, Lance was keeping up, moving with more fluidity than before. Each hit Keith tried to place missed contact as Lance slid...or flowed out of its path. So Keith upped his speed and tactics. And things quickly fell apart.

Lance only dodged two hits before Keith’s fist made contact with his chin. Lance’s body jolted backward and he was on the floor before Keith even realized how hard the hit had impacted him.

“Lance!” Keith shouted in surprise and fled to his side, kneeling beside his quiet body.

“Lance, can you hear me?” Keith grabbed his face, but Lance was unresponsive.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I am so mean to you, Lance. I always hurt the ones I love.


	5. Connection Unknown

\---static---

\--------sssss-sssssshhhhh---------------

-static-

\----nak….----keep dozing...off. I managed to pull myself to------------

-stat-c--------

\--patch up the more serious---------leg though. I don’t even wanna------

-stattc-----

\---tired. I hope you guys find-------------------that Blue wakes up soon---------oh. I found my coordinates. They’re------

\-----sttaatc------------------------

-end transmission-

**13 Hours Earlier**

Pidge’s voice was quiet but strained when she made a call for Allura to come down to meet the paladins in the central hangar where the black lion had just landed.

“Keith...is...just come quick,” Pidge said before ending communication. Allura gave Coran orders to take control of the ship as she ran out of the control room.

By the time Allura reached the hangar it was obvious to her that she had missed a very important component of the situation during her trek to the docking bay. Keith and Shiro were squared off by the open mouth of the Black Lion. Keith was angrily clutching at Shiro’s armor and Hunk was pleading for them to calm down, though it was obvious that Keith was the only one who needed the instruction. Shiro’s arms were raised in defeat, and he was speaking calmly to Keith, who did not appear to even be listening; his shouting was drowning out Shiro’s words.

“Why isn’t he with you? How could you just leave him there? You forced me through that wormhole, I could have _helped him_!” Keith was frantic and shaking more with the succession of every other word, causing his arms to shake Shiro in the process.

Allura ran to them and pulled Keith back by the collar of his armor.

“That is _quite enough_! This is _no_ _way_ for a paladin to behave!” Allura shouted, lifting Keith and pulling him out of arm’s reach of Shiro. She was lying, of course. Red paladins had a stubborn, temperamental streak as if it was a requirement. Allura pushed the memories of her father from her mind before they had time to fully form.

“Keith,” Shiro said calmly, through heavy breaths. Keith could only cross his arms and glare, temporarily deflated. “I didn’t _leave_ Lance! He..he pushed me through. He forced me through the wormhole right before it closed.”

“Lance’s Lion is half the size of yours. How..why would he do that?” Keith asked, anger still bubbling over in his voice.

“Keith, you saw the damage the Blue Lion was taking more than the rest of us. You were with Lance through most of that fight. I could tell that something was the matter with Blue. After I swung you through the wormhole, I held back in case Lance needed assistance. We were right behind you, but without our comms up,” Shiro paused a moment, recalling every detail, his face pained and guilty. “He couldn’t warn me about a new swarm of ships coming up to flank me. I was so focused on getting us out of there, I didn’t notice them until it was too late. He used his boosters to come at me full speed and push me through. The last thing I saw was him rolling and switching direction and leading the Galra away from the wormhole,” Shiro said. Allura could hear regret drenching every word he spoke.  

“Why would Lance do that?!” Pidge interjected. Lance was known for being brash at times, but he was brave, not reckless. That title for most reckless was held, uncontested, by Keith.

“He was trying to save Shiro. He was trying to do what Shiro would have done,” Keith stated quietly, looking down at his feet. No one could read the expression that his hair purposefully hid. The entire group appeared surprised by this sudden insight into Lance coming from Keith, of all people.

“And I think to protect the wormhole,” Shiro said, his words trailing off. He was visibly despondent over this development. He had sworn not to lose another team member and what had just happened was clearly affecting him deeply. Allura thought to say something to him but her attention was demanded elsewhere, suddenly.

“What? Can the Galra even use the wormholes?” Pidge asked. Ignoring tension in any given situation in favor of learning something was Pidge’s trademark move.

“Well...I have not witnessed it personally. Despite Zarkon’s use of force and wont for destruction, generally, the Galran forces do not risk traveling through a wormhole that they do not have under their control. Because I have the power to control them and close them while they are still passing through, they almost never follow through one. That was why I was so desperate to have you all return as quickly as possible. We are very lucky Shiro did not get pulled apart or sent to an unknown destination." Allura paused, an idea taking hold in her mind. "Unless their orders were to figure out where the Castle is and take that risk...I suppose it’s…” Allura was thinking aloud at this point, not noticing Keith’s posture becoming tenser and his expression more agitated.

“Who _cares_?! Open it back up and let’s go get Lance!” Keith shouted, throwing his arms up in the air.

“Keith!” Shiro shouted. His tone was harsher than the other paladins had ever heard him use to speak to any of them. Having Keith attack him, he could handle that; disrespecting the Princess was another matter for him entirely.

“It’s fine, Shiro,” Allura said, calmly. She turned to face Keith, her sadness plain on her face. “We can’t go back through that wormhole, Keith. It was too unstable. I didn’t close it; it was unable to hold form any longer. And then, at the end, when it closed…” Allura remembered the purple flash of light. “Something corrupted it.”

Keith looked around the room at the faces of Allura and the other paladins, desperate for another option to be given. Pidge always had some ingenious idea to troubleshoot anything, so why the silence now? Hunk looked like a paler version of himself, sick with worry for his lost friend. If he had an idea in that big brain of his, it was currently being blocked by his grief.

"Then let's open another one!" Keith suggested. Allura's frown only deepened. "It's not as simple as all that. The instability was due to the system. Plus the Galra are aware of that location. They'll be expecting us to come back for the Blue Lion."

“We can’t _leave_ Lance there!” Keith finally shouted, when no one else spoke up.

“Of _course_ not!” Shiro chimed in. “No one was saying we’re going to leave Lance behind!”

“No. But we must devise another plan before we can move forward,” Allura asserted.

“But, um, the Galra are chasing him right now, right? So, what if he gets hurt? We don’t really have time for a plan. We need to do something now!” Hunk finally spoke up, surprising everyone by being on the same page as Keith. This was not the first time he had shown impatience when someone’s life was at stake, Allura thought. And that time, their mission was successful; they had been able to save Shay, as well as all the other Balmerans. They would just need to rely on some planning and some faith.

“Paladins, I _know_ you are all eager to get Lance back; I am too. But we cannot help him by endangering ourselves and putting Voltron at risk,” Allura said plainly. In the end, she had the highest authority and the final say. “We must have faith that he will persevere. And we will do all we can to devise a plan on getting him back to us as quickly as possible.” She looked at the faces that looked to her for guidance and strength on a daily basis. Keith’s glare bore through her and left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“Well, let’s hope he’s still around to help by the time your _planning_ is done,” Keith said, his tone darker and angrier than anyone had ever heard. He immediately started walking out of the hangar. Allura and the remaining paladins all stood silently and watched him leave.They all felt the same hopeless feeling. Nothing they could say would make him feel better. Not right now. Nothing short of ripping open another wormhole and pulling Lance out of it would likely garner any positive reaction from Keith at the moment.

There was a loud metallic thud accompanied by an angry shout before they heard the hangar doors slide open and shut again. “He hit a wall,” Pidge said, matter-of-fact.

“Well, frankly, I understand how he’s feeling right now,” Hunk admitted to his small friend.

“We all want Lance back, though. We can’t just fly off the handle through a messed up wormhole, guns blazing. I’m sure Lance’ll be okay,” Pidge said. The last words spoken sounded added on as if an afterthought and Hunk wondered if Pidge really believed Lance would be fine.

Allura’s hands were shaking. She quickly grabbed one with the other and started rubbing it to calm it. After a moment, it worked, and she switched hands. Keith’s words and attitude had gotten to her, but she knew she could not show it. As exhausting and lonely as it was at her position, she was to remain the pillar of hope and strength for these lost Earthlings. She looked to Shiro, whose gaze seemed distant and detached. She walked to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. There was an involuntary flinch beneath her fingertips.

“Are you okay, Shiro?” She asked gingerly. She knew the answer to the question but decided to ask anyway.

“I haven’t seen him this way in a very long time,” Shiro admitted to her. When he turned to face her, the fear in his eyes was all too apparent. It was not at all a look Allura was used to seeing on him. As if he could read her thoughts, his mouth formed the subtlest of smiles. “No time to worry about me, or how I’m feeling. We need to come up with a plan as quickly as possible and get Lance and the Blue Lion back safely.” Allura returned his smile and nodded, a renewed determination to get everyone through this.

“Right,” she said, before walking back to Pidge and Hunk. They were still talking and she overheard the last bits of their conversation.

“...So did you notice…” Hunk began. Pidge was already nodding.

“He was talking about Lance. Not the Blue Lion,” Pidge confirmed.

“Voltron always comes first with Keith. But,” Hunk started an unfinished thought and Pidge merely nodded again as the two exchanged worried side glances that Allura did not see.

  


**4 days earlier: Mid Morning**

“Lance!” Keith shouted again. On a scale of one to frantic, Keith was hitting somewhere in the vicinity of a 13. No way he would be able to explain this to the others. Should he try CPR? No, that wasn’t the appropriate resolution, he told himself. He pulled Lance up to rest his back against his lap and wrapped an arm around his neck. He used his free hand to slap Lance’s face some more. Still no visible difference. He quickly turned his head back and looked to the water bottles on the ground against the wall. Maybe splashing him with water might rouse him? Keith was about to stand but Lance gripped lightly on the wrist of the hand that was slapping his face.

“Lance!” Keith said, relief flooding over him. He had already gone through several scenarios of explaining this to Shiro, and none ended well.

“Thop tha..aaah,” his words were cut off by his own groaning. Lance’s grip on Keith’s wrist tightened and his shoulders flinched. Keith looked down at him, horrified as to what could possibly be the matter. Whatever it was, it was his fault, he knew that much. There were no visible marks on his face; not yet, anyway. Keith inspected Lance’s chin as his eyes fluttered open. Lance still seemed somewhat dazed by the blow to his face, noted by the lack of focus in his eyes. Keith nearly missed the fact that he was once again cradling Lance in his arms. He stared at down at Lance, wondering if he would remember this time. His blue eyes blinked a few more times before he spoke.

“Keith,” he said in a weak, hazy tone. Keith leaned in to better hear him. “What is it, Lance? What do you need?”

“You…” Lance sputtered out. Keith felt his cheeks grow hot. Was he hearing him correctly? Did Lance hit his head too hard when he fell back?

“What?” Keith muttered sheepishly.

“You could, rewwy ush, a good shkin care routin. Your fathe is patsy and your T-zone is sho dry,” Lance delivered the sentence without malice. He sounded more hazy and calm than anything. Keith grimaced and stood, dropping Lance to the floor.

“Ah! Aaah!!” Lance shouted twice in rapid succession. “Zuthe!”

“Why are you talking like that?” Keith asked, his pride taking a backseat to concern.

“Becauthe when oo hit me in the thathe, I bih mah thun. And now I dut bib again!” Lance said. For the first time all day, he sounded genuinely angry with Keith. _It was fun while it lasted_ , Keith thought, already resigned to having to put up with the possibility of an argument. Lance groaned as he sat up, rubbing his head with one hand and his chin with the other.

“I sthethithicawy shaid NOT to hih me in muh thathe!” Lance shouted at him. Keith was at a loss, not entirely sure what Lance was saying to him, wondering if it was still even English. “Huh?”

Lance’s face grew darker as he gestured to his own face. “Muh thathe! Muh thathe! No hit!” He barked.

“You said your money-maker! I thought that meant your butt! Which was never in any danger, so your warning confused me!” Keith defended himself poorly. Lance filed away the information that Keith considered his butt his money-maker for use at a later period.

“Muh..buth? Keith, OH MUH GOB, the mummy maper id alwayth the thathe!”

“Well I know that, now, Lance!” Keith said, surprising himself for understanding Lance at all. “Listen it wasn’t an intentional hit. You were doing well, so I started to amp it up a bit and got carried away. I’m sorry about your chin, okay?” Lance’s face was scrunched up and sixty percent made of a frown at that point. He breathed heavily through his nose for a moment, then stood up.

“Fine,” he said, visibly working to calm himself. “I acthepp yah apowogy. Buh I’m gumma meed thum ithe,” Lance said, slowly clamoring to his feet. Keith felt a rush of relief wash over him for the second time and smiled weakly.

“So with your tongue out of commission, does this mean we’ll be free from your jokes for a while?” Lance’s brows knit and he grimaced at the smirking red paladin, who was obviously proud of himself for his remark.

“Ath-ole!” Lance grumbled as they walked towards the training deck’s exit.

\----------

Lance and Keith were seated at the dining table- Lance with a small ice pouch against his chin (there was swelling after all) and ice in his mouth, numbing his tongue; and Keith messing with his knife-when the others in the Castle started moving about. Pidge was first to come through the dining room, ignoring them completely on the way to find something for breakfast that was hopefully not more green slop. Lance and Keith smirked at each other.

“Not a morning perthon,” Lance said. His tongue’s swelling was going down, and although it still hurt, the bleeding had stopped. Keith chuckled quietly, wondering if Pidge even realized they were seated there. Lance eyed Keith balancing his knife on one finger, obviously something he had learned to do to pass time.

“Where were you eben keeping tha?” Lance asked, not really sure he wanted an answer. Before Keith could say anything, Hunk was coming through the sliding doors of the dining hall, yawning a deep and lengthy yawn and rubbing his face. He almost walked past the two of them before doing a groggy double take.

“Lance! You’re awake! Are you sick? What’s _that_?!” He asked, pointing at the ice pouch. Lance pulled it away from his face and tossed it to Hunk. Hunk caught it one-handed and then tossed it around, surprised by the cold. He threw it back to Lance.

“Why did you need an ice pack? Oh gosh, what happened to your chin?” Hunk said upon further examination of his friend. He looked to Keith and his expression grew dark. “Keith, tell me you did not do that. Lance, did you finally push him too far? Did you both just finally have it out? What’s going to--”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Hunk, buddy, calm down!” Lance said waving his hands to stop the onslaught of questions. “To ansher your questhsons. Yesh, Keith did this. Hith temper ish out of control! Sic him!” Lance pointed at Keith, and looked at Hunk expectantly. Hunk’s inquisitive expression dropped to one of cynicism.

“Okay so what happened then?” Hunk looked to Keith for the truth since it was obvious Lance could not be trusted.

“I did hit him,” Keith said with a smirk in Lance’s direction. Lance had dropped his previous smile to make way for the grimace he was now wearing.  

“Maybe I should feel _your_ head, Keith,” Hunk said. He was flummoxed by the interaction taking place in front of him.

“It wash a lucky hit! If we were fightin for weal, you’d look sho much wuhs,” Lance lost steam immediately, realizing his current speech impediment made it impossible to sound tough in the slightest. Keith and Hunk were both laughing.

“Sho much wuhs,” Keith mimicked Lance as he pushed himself up from the table. He stifled his snickers just long enough to speak. “I’m going to grab some food. We can train some more in about half an hour if you’re feeling up to it.” Hunk leaned against the table, palms flat against its surface. They watched Keith leave at the same moment Pidge trudged back into the dining room with a bowl of something tucked beneath their arm. Pidge blinked rapidly at the two of them.

“Lance, you’re awake?” Pidge asked before taking the seat that Keith had been sitting in. “This seat is warm, hmm.” Lance shook his head.

“Geez Pidge. You gotta get more shleep,” Lance said.

“Lance, what was all that about? You’re training with _Keith_ now?” Hunk sounded concerned, with a tad of confusion thrown into the mix.

“Yup,” Lance answered, staring at the door that Keith had just left through. He did not offer his friends any more information than that, before remembering something.

“Guysh, what would you shay is my money-maker? My butt?” Pidge practically inhaled the spoon that was in her mouth and snorted out the green goo through the nose. Hunk was laughing too hard and loud to notice.

“What butt?” Hunk asked when he was able to stop laughing long enough to speak. He high-fived Pidge who joined his chorus of over the top laughter.

Lance sighed. “You guysh shuck.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Translation of Lance's responses, in order:
> 
> “You could really use a good skin care routine. Your face is patchy and your T-zone is so dry.”  
> “Aaah! Dude!”  
> “Because when you hit me in the face, I bit my tongue. And now I just did again.”  
> “I specifically said NOT to hit me in my face!”  
> “My face! My face! No hit!”  
> “My butt? OH MY GOD, the money-maker is always the face!”  
> “Fine. I accept your apology, but I’m gonna need some ice.”  
> “Asshole!”
> 
> Thanks for all your support and comments guys! They really pump me up and make me want to write even more!


	6. The Electric Wave

-ssttt-cc-----

\---ccc---

\----blood loss is making me s----- I’m trying to stay aw-------ting harder.

\----sttaaaaa

-ttttiii-cc------

\---ly been a few hours. I think. Not sure, since systems are d-------------huh?------

\--sstaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa----------------------------

\----guys. I hear something-------------

\----------sssssscccccc------

-end transmission-

  
  


**4 days earlier: Evening**

  
  


Lance walked through the lounge doors like a zombie. His hair was in disarray and his face looked stretched thin over his skull. Aside from the light bruise on his chin, his face was lacking its usual color.  Pidge and Hunk were shuffling into the lounge as well as he trudged towards the couch and fell down face first into it.  

“Owwwww,” he whined into the cushions. His body screamed out at him when it made contact with the stiff material of his armor.

“Saw that coming,” Pidge said in a voice devoid of sympathy.

“Lance, just go change, or go to bed if you’re so tired,” Hunk urged him. He hadn’t seen Lance look this bad since he came out of the healing pod completely dazed.

“What am I? Your grandpa? It’s like 7:30 at night.” Lance said, still speaking directly into the cushions. 

“Is that Earth time? A specific timezone? Because that is definitely  _ not  _ the time the Castle’s on,” Pidge informed Lance.

“Castle time?” Lance finally turned his head in order to look at Pidge, half his face still smashed into the cushion of the seating.

“Lance, I swear to….It’s the time Allura gave us to use when we weren’t on a planet! To keep a normal schedule for us? Any of this ringing a bell?” Pidge admonished.

“Pidge I can’t be expected to remember every detail. I am saving my brain room for Voltron and fighting the Galra,” Lance said in the same tone a kid might use before saying “so there” and sticking out their tongue.

“Well you must be at max capacity,” Pidge muttered before getting back to typing.

“I heard that and I am too tired to think of a witty comeback, so just pretend I said something really cool and scathing,” Lance said. In the next moment he was doing his best impression of a turtle trying to turn over, whipping back his shoulder as hard as he could several times. He finally made it onto his back and exhaled deeply. His training with Keith had taken more out of him than he’d care to admit, and they had not even made it through the entire day. That afternoon, Allura had called them away from training.

“That mission wore me out. What  _ was  _ that, anyway?” Lance asked, blocking the bright lights from the ceiling with his forearm.

He was referring to the mission from which they had just returned. Allura had received a signal from a planet that had required Voltron’s assistance ages ago. She knew it was a long shot, but it was their duty, she told them, to check anyone that was requesting help from Voltron, even if the signals were thousands of years old. The team had flown their lions down to the planet’s surface without so much as a sniff of Galran forces present. They continued to the source of the signal, which led them down a series of tunnels and caverns. “Tunnels.  _ Again _ .  _ Great  _ ,” Hunk had said in the most sarcastic tone anyone had ever heard from him.

_ \-------- _

_ The entire location was abandoned, from the looks of it, the planet had no life whatsoever left on it, at least none that the paladins could see or that their crafts could detect. No one was waiting for rescue. They were too late, and had been for centuries, by the looks of it. Shiro had Pidge disable the transmitter, and they left as quickly and quietly as they had come in. The team was deflated, having not yet seen the devastation of a planet that had been completely stripped of life and resources by the Galra. Shiro was informing Allura of what they had seen, and that they would be returning to the ship shortly. She gave an affirmative that was cut off by static. _

_ “Uh, guys,” Lance had been the one to spot the Galra fighter ships. There were only three, hardly anything to worry about. What was curious to Lance was why they were on this dead planet to begin with. _

_ “Three fighters? On a dead planet? That makes no sense,” Pidge said, once again saying what Lance had been thinking. If he had a nickel for every time…. _

_ “Piece of cake,” Keith said, flying his Lion towards them without waiting for a strike order. Shiro sighed heavily into his comm, then followed Keith to give him back up he likely didn’t need. The three remaining pilots followed close behind, if just for the purpose of witnessing how the take down would happen. _

_ “They’ve locked onto us,” Shiro said. The Galra ships shifted their direction and began flight towards the Lions. Seconds later they came to a full stop, hovered in the air for a moment, then began flying away, up and out of the planet’s atmosphere. _

_ “Oh no you don’t!” Keith shouted. The Red Lion shot up after them as the rest of the crew was trying to process what they witnessed. The Black Lion shot up after it and Yellow and Green both quickly followed suit. Lance hovered in the same spot. _

_ “Lance, catch up,” Shiro ordered. Lance was pulled out of his trance by Shiro’s words. _

_ “Sorry,” he managed to mutter. “It was just strange,” Lance began to explain. It was a feeling. He was covered in goosebumps, and though he couldn’t check, he knew the hair on his body was standing up. “I--” Before Lance could finish his sentence, he heard static again in the ear pieces of his helmet. “Guys?” Lance asked. He began his ascension out of the planet’s atmosphere to reconnect with his group. His only answer was static. The feeling came back to him and he halted movement. He shifted in his seat and looked around Blue’s cockpit. Sparks. He could hear the low hisses and crackling of electricity. _

_ “Let’s get out of here Blue!” Lance said to the Lion. _

_ He shifted gears but it was already too late. He saw a bolt...no, it was not a bolt, not even close. Multiply it by thousands, then maybe it would be close to what he was witnessing. It had the appearance of a wave. Lance watched, mouth agape, as a roll of electrical current was racing towards him. His screens were down, and his controls had locked.  _

_ “Blue, get shields up now!” Lance ordered, hoping his connection with the Blue Lion worked well enough for this type of situation. The blue ball of light surrounding the Lion appeared just as the wave of lightning crackled against its circumference. Lance held his breath, watching electricity whip at the shield as the wave crashed into it and then continued around it. The shield flickered and Lance jumped up from his seat. He sighed with relief when he saw the shield hold up after all. Moments later, the electrical wave had passed them entirely. He slumped down in his chair. _

_ “Guys?” Lance tried to get the team, but still only heard static. He watched his screens flicker and fill with waves of static and noise for a minute more before returning to normal. Blue made a noise as if an engine was turning over somewhere after several tries, and finally sputtered to life. Only more like a lion. The Blue Lion purred at him, as if to assure him it was okay. Lance put his hands on the controls and got two strong shocks. _

_ “Aah!” Lance said, shaking out his hands. “What the hell is going on?” Lance muttered to himself. _

_ “That’s what we’d like to know. We’re waiting for you up here, Lance. We lost track of the ships, and Allura called us back,” Shiro sounded impatient. _

_“Did none of you see_ ** _any_** _of that?” Lance said, placing his hands back on the controls and finally ascending out of the planet’s atmosphere._

_ “See what, Lance?” Hunk asked, genuinely curious. _

_ “The electric... wave?” Lance said as he accelerated. Within seconds he had joined back up with the rest of the Lions. _

_ “Isn’t that a dance?” Hunk replied. Lance groaned. “Nevermind! Let’s just get out of here.” He was eager to get back to the Castle after that particular experience, especially one he had suffered alone. _

\--------

“So it looked like a wave of like..water? But it was made out of electricity?” Hunk was asking, plopping himself down on the end of the sofa by Lance’s feet.

“Something like that. It was like a horizontal lightning bolt, but thousands of ‘em. They moved like fluid water. I’ve never seen anything like that. Or even heard of it,” Lance said. He lifted his head to look over at Pidge, who was still typing furiously. “Help me Pidge, you’re my only hope,” he tried to lift an arm for dramatic effect, but his arm wanted no part of that idea and stayed where it was, hanging off of the sofa. Pidge sighed.

“What you’re describing sounds like some kind of demented cousin to an electrical storm. Were there clouds?” Pidge’s asked with a quick re-adjustment to her glasses.

“Not unless they were so thin they were invisible. Like it was literally just a wave of electricity..OH!” Lance suddenly thought of something and shot up from his position, nearly tumbling off the couch in the process. “Okay so you know about those bioluminescent algae, right? Like hoardes will just wash up on the shores in the waves? It was almost kind of like that. But with lightning and no water.” Lance was talking animatedly with his arms, shedding his exhaustion for a moment of excitement at the thought of being able to somewhat explain what he had seen. 

“What you’re describing..doesn’t sound like something that happens in nature,” Pidge said, another push of the glasses up their nose. Pidge looked frustrated. Being stumped was never an option.

“Nothing happens in contradiction to nature, only in contradiction to what we know of it,” Lance said with a knowing nod and wise tone.

“Lance, do not use Scully quotes against me. You will  _ not  _ win,” Pidge said monotonously. Lance barked out a laugh and his eyes lit up. He was definitely getting his second wind. 

“  _ Pidge!  _ Finally, we’re finding common ground!” He moved his arms back and forth between them in a circular motion. His reply from Pidge was a half smile and a shaking of the head.

\----------

Keith’s ears were assailed with laughter and arguing as he walked down the hall towards the lounge. He had just finished getting lectured by Shiro about his brash actions during the mission. He wanted to immediately find Lance and tell him about the downside of being on Shiro’s radar. Judging by the sound of laughter, he was headed in the right direction. He was honestly surprised that Lance was still up and goofing around. When he had left the hangar, he looked dead to the world. But now he was laughing harder than Keith had ever heard. Pidge was saying something and Hunk was chanting, but Keith couldn’t make the words out just yet.

“--ing, sing, sing,” Hunk was clearer when Keith turned the corner. A few more feet until he reached the door, but something stopped him.

“Ugh, really?  _ You  _ can sing?” Pidge asked, not at all bothering to hide the dubious tone.

“Oh Pidge, you don’t know what you’re missing!” Hunk said.

“Don’t oversell it,” Pidge said. Hunk laughed. “I wouldn’t have to if Lance would just agree…” Lance cut him off.

“I don’t know if I’m up to it, Hunk,” Lance said. He sounded tired after all.

“Please! Just let Pidge hear one song!” Hunk pleaded.

“There’s no music. I don’t have an instrument, or even an mp3 or…” Lance was struggling to get out of it.

“You don’t need it,” Hunk said. Suddenly Keith could hear a rhythm being beat on something.

“Don’t break it, Hunk!” Pidge said. The beat continued.

“Shine bright like a diamond. Shine bright like a diamond,” Keith heard Hunk singing. He didn’t sound too bad, but Keith was not a great judge of musical talent. Hunk’s voice was definitely an octave too low for what he was trying to pull off, though. The beat continued and Hunk repeated himself. Then Keith heard Lance chime in.

“Find light in the beautiful sea, I choose to be happy…You and I...you and I, we’re like diamonds in the sky.” Keith nearly stumbled backwards in surprise. He assumed Pidge was correct and that Hunk was overselling Lance’s skills. But what he was hearing was actually...good? If he was honest, it was better than good. Keith felt flush in his cheeks, angry at how easy it was becoming to make him blush where Lance was involved. How had Lance hidden this skill? He had not so much as hummed a tune since being aboard the Castle. Keith continued listening on the other side of the door through an entire verse and what he assume was the chorus to this song he had never heard.

“Lance, what are you doing?” Pidge’s voice chimed in. Lance continued singing. “Oh brother. Don’t cry to me when you fall and break something,” Pidge warned him. Keith bit back his curiosity at what shenanigans Lance was pulling in order to continue listening to the song. He had a feeling as soon as he stepped into the room, the fun would be over. He somehow had that effect when Lance was having fun with the others.

“..You and I. We’re beautiful, like diamonds in the sky!” Lance’s voice came through.

“Don’t even think about it,” Pidge said. Lance’s singing drowned Pidge out, but Keith could hear shuffling about. Hunk was making some kind of nervous noise before saying a quick “okay”. Then laughter. Lance continued singing.

Keith could no longer contain his curiosity and walked into the room. At first he went unnoticed. Lance was facing away from the door, singing and dancing on top of the backrest of the seating, holding one of Hunk’s hand to keep balance and also to pull Hunk along with him. Lance’s voice drowned out every noise in the room. Pidge looked up from the screen for a moment to acknowledge Keith’s presence. Keith did not notice Pidge. He was too busy staring at Lance. Even Lance's dancing was decent, taking into account his exhaustion and armor. He felt like he should announce his presence, like he was watching something he wasn’t supposed to be seeing. But in another moment, the feeling was moot. Lance turned around and saw Keith immediately.

“When you hold me I’m alaaaah---” His singing was cut short as he fell off the backrest. Luckily Hunk was waiting appropriately by his friend’s side to catch him. Lance struggled to get to his feet.

“Sorry. Am I..uh...interrupting?” Keith attempted to ask in a calm manner. His flushed cheeks betrayed him. He really had to stop letting that happen.

“Keith! Lance was just singing for us. Then he was dancing..for...well, for himself. I sure didn’t ask him,” Hunk said, propping Lance up onto his feet since he was having trouble finding purchase on his own.

“I heard, it was, uh,” Keith said, trying not to jumble his words and accidentally provoke Lance into another fight.

“It was good, right? Man, he had this guitar back at the dorms, and he...well he wasn’t really great on it, but he could strum along to practically any song! I was telling Pidge because she didn’t believe me about his singing,” Hunk rambled on like a proud parent as Lance stood quietly beside him, looking slightly embarrassed by the praise.

“It was good,” Keith agreed. Lance’s look of embarrassment disappeared and was easily replaced by the smug expression to which everyone had grown accustomed.

“Psh. I know man! Would have been better with proper accompaniment,” Lance said, rolling his shoulders back to crack them.

“Well you were the one piloting the Blue Lion off of Earth. If you didn’t stop to pick up some essentials it’s your own fault,” Pidge chimed in. Keith smirked. He was beginning to enjoy how Pidge always had a smart retort for any garbage Lance might be ejecting from his mouth at any given moment--which happened to be often. “Where’ve you been?” Pidge looked to Keith with a raised eyebrow. 

“Oh. Talking to Shiro,” Keith said. He ran his fingers through his hair, not sure he wanted to let the others know what they were talking about. Shiro was not happy, understandably. But Keith had heard it all before, and he had no idea how to curb his impatience. It was something he was constantly working on, but the payoff was hard to notice.

“About the mission?” Lance asked. His demeanor was more serious and calm. If Keith didn’t know any better, he could swear he heard concern from the blue paladin.

“Yeah,” Keith said vaguely. The other paladins all nodded to each other as if they already knew what the conversation had consisted of. “What?” Keith asked, looking around the room for someone to fill him in. 

“Dude, it’s no big secret you were gonna get a lecture after you peeled off alone after those three ships,” Lance said knowingly. He jumped over the backrest of the sofa and plopped down on it. “And if he didn’t chew you out, I’ll do it right now.” Keith crossed his arms, bracing himself for a possible argument.

“I wasn’t  _ showing off _ , Lance!” He defended himself before Lance had a chance to accuse him of anything.

“No, you just put yourself in danger!” Lance argued. Pidge sighed, picking up their laptop.

“Oh  _ come _ on, it was  _ three _ ships, Lance! We’ve all faced more than that on our own before,” Keith argued. Though, he was pointedly surprised at the fact that Lance was not angry, but concerned for his safety. Or at least, that is what Keith was gathering from this conversation. He sat down on the opposite end of the sofa, arms still crossed tight against his chest. Pidge was exiting the room, trying to avoid what might turn into a heated argument.

“Okay, Keith, I get that, but you didn’t even stop to think. You didn’t think it was weird that they were on an abandoned planet? That something might be different about them? There was an unknown element in place,” Lance explained. Hunk looked tired and worried, but took up Pidge’s former seat and waited to see if his mediation was necessary. “So it should have made sense to approach the situation more cautiously because we had no idea what we were dealing with exactly,” Lance finished, hitting one hand vertically into the palm of his other hands as he explained. He stared Keith down, not missing a beat. He was serious and Keith could only stare back in surprise while something fluttered in his gut. Lance knew what he was talking about and it was an attractive quality in him.

“I guess….” Keith started. Lance cut him off, apparently not done. “Which we didn’t! There was something weird going on there. Except you all apparently missed that. And you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t raced off like that!” Lance exclaimed. He leaned back against the backrest of the sofa and spread his arms across the top.

“Missed what? That electric wave?” Keith said, trying to recall what Lance had babbled about during the mission.

“Yes!” Lance said, still hyped from his little lecture.

“Didn’t you say that you and Blue nearly got fried, though?” Hunk chimed in. He stood up, seeing that their conversation would likely not escalate. He stretched.

“Yes. I did. So I guess it’s fine that you all left without me to safety after all,” Lance said, defeated. He leaned his head against the top of the backrest and stared at the ceiling with a grumpy pout.

“Well, glad that’s settled. I’m wiped. I’m going to change and shower and pass out early I think,” Hunk informed them with a yawn. “Play nice, you two.” Hunk pointed to the two of them, waving his index fingers around at each of them for a few more seconds before heading out the door.

Keith was used to silence. He had had a lot of time to get used to it back at his little hovel in the middle of nowhere. He had grown accustomed to it. The hardest part of getting used to the group was the noise they made. It was overwhelming at times, though he would never admit that to anyone. Yet now, something was off about it. He didn’t like it. He wanted Lance to fill it with a stupid remark or a goofy joke. But Lance continued staring at the ceiling.

“Listen, I’m sorry if, you’re pissed at me or, whatever it is. If it makes you feel better, Shiro  _ did  _ chew me out. He pretty much said what you just did,” Keith surrendered. He was throwing up a white flag for the sake of noise.  

“I’m not  _ mad _ , you--- Thanks,” Lance replied curtly, followed by a sigh.

“Could’ve fooled me,” Keith mumbled under his breath, tapping his feet together awkwardly. Why were things always so strained? He didn’t want it to be this way.

“I was worried. Then I was..alone. It sucked,” Lance admitted after a few seconds. “You guys had flown off, I lost contact. That wave. I mean if Blue hadn’t thrown up that shield. Well, you’d be looking at my charred remains through the glass of a healing pod, if I even lived through it.” Lance shuddered and shook his head. The idea of death following him around was not a pleasant thought. He looked to Keith when he didn’t get a verbal response. Keith’s face was pale. He was paralyzed with guilt at the idea of what Lance had just said. He looked sick.

“Whoa, whoa, Keith! Buddy, it’s cool, I’m fine! Just…” Lance paused. Keith did not seem to snap out of it. Lance put a hand on his shoulder. “Keith, you there? I’m fine, remember? I’m not mad, we’re all good here,” Lance said, his tone mocking cheeriness. He put his free hand on Keith’s other shoulder and pulled him to face towards him. “Are you---” Before he knew what was happening, Keith’s arms wrapped around him tightly. For just a second, Keith forgot himself, pressing against Lance and feeling comforted at the fact that his body was still in one piece. Then there was movement. Lance’s hands on his shoulders, sliding down. That was all it took to snap Keith back into the moment and push himself away from Lance.

“Oh god. I’m...I’m!” Keith muttered, trying to find his bearings, trying to stand. His legs felt like liquid. He forced himself up regardless and shuffled full speed to the door. Mortified did not even begin to cover it. “I’m sorry.”

  
****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed update. I've been participating in Klance Week over on tumblr :> jessadilla.tumblr.com if you're interested! Thanks for reading! 
> 
> (The 100% self indulgent song I added is Diamonds by Rihanna!)


	7. Switch Flipped

 

\----stt-ccccccccc--

-c-c-cccccssss-s-

\-------------------------------

\---hu-hu-hu. Shit shit shit shi-----------

\-------sssttttciccciiiiiiiii-------cccc-------------------

\------tis that oh m----------

\--csstaaaatic-ssss------------

-end transmission-

 

**10 Hours Earlier**

 

Hunk had stepped up and offered to speak with Keith. Well, actually, Shiro had definitely said he was going to go talk to Keith, but Hunk volunteered to go in his place.

“Shiro, you’re like, the nicest adult I’ve ever met, but you’re way too positive,” Hunk said, blocking Shiro’s way to the door. Shiro stopped with a raised eyebrow.

“And that’s...bad?” Shiro asked. He looked to Allura and Pidge for confirmation. Allura could only shrug and Pidge was ignoring them completely, looking at a map on a screen.

“It’s a bad thing when you’re talking to someone who’s probably full of doubt. Listen, we all want Lance to be okay, and that’s what we’re all hoping. And you can keep sending your positive vibes out into the universe, and on some level it’s great and it’s helping….but our friend is lost out there. He’s alone and we’ve been at this for a few hours and still aren’t a hundred percent sure how to help him. And the worry is just..building up.” Hunk paused when his voice cracked. He was known for being emotional by the rest of the crew, but he had tried to keep it to a bare minimum. Tears were not going to help Lance right now, if he was still alive. “And right now hearing something like ‘it will be okay’ is not really going to help. At least it wouldn’t for me. And Keith is ten times more intensely brooding than I am. Maybe a hundred times. I can’t imagine that going in there with your usual plucky determination is going to be much use to him right now. So let me talk to him.”

“Wow, Hunk. Um...okay,” Shiro said, stumped. He seemed somewhat surprised by Hunk’s insightful words. “I’ll get back to figuring out a drop strategy,” he told him. Hunk half-smiled and left the room to go to Keith.

Hunk had no short supply of insightful wisdom, he just liked to see people figure things out on their own...most of the time. He was always around to give a push when needed, but mostly he was content on letting things play out, unless his words could aid a situation. Right now, he had no idea what he was going to say to Keith, though. He had isolated himself in the Blue Lion’s bay while everyone else was hunched over monitors in the control deck, trying to figure out a solution to this horrible situation.

Hunk walked through the bay doors, and Keith was immediately zoned in on him. He looked hopeful for a split second and jumped up from where he was seated on the ground.

“Have they figured out a plan? Are we heading back to the system?” Keith’s words drifted off at the second question when he realized Hunk’s expression wasn’t one of joy or relief.

“Not yet. Pidge and I have been working with Coran. The interference was caused by electrical storms, we’re sure of that much. Pidge and I saw hundreds of them in that solar system, and while our radar was still working, we picked up several more. Before the equipment went haywire, Pidge was able to download some readings and recover them. The readings from those planets are really unusual. They all appear to have strong magnetic fields or electrical storms across the….sorry, I’m getting off topic. The conclusion we came to was that while the majority of the planets aren’t really hospitable, it’s possible for Lance, in the Blue Lion, to find some refuge on some for a while…” Hunk realized over-explaining, which was Hunk’s go to coping mechanism, wasn’t making Keith feel any better about the situation.

“A while…” Keith repeated the two words that seemed most important to him out of all Hunk’s explaining. He slid down the wall and planted his butt firmly back on the floor. “We just need a way to get around that interference. And Allura and Shiro are working hard to figure out how to put us back in that system, or close enough to jump in safely. We’re really close Keith. I know it’s nerve-wracking but we’re trying…”

“ _He_ doesn’t know that,” Keith’s outburst was quiet but emotionally charged. His voice cracked as he spoke. “He’s alone and he doesn’t know how close we are to a plan. Or how hard we’re... trying to get him back,” Keith pulled up his knees to his chest and hid his face behind them.

“Of course he does. He’s our friend, Keith. He knows we care about him and that we’d do anything to get him back,” Hunk asserted in a matter-of-fact tone. There was no way Lance would think they’d just abandon him.   
“How do you know? He thinks I...we only care about getting the Blue Lion back,” Keith said looking up to Hunk, his eyes desperately searching his friend’s face for the slightest semblance of comfort.

“Because, you know him, and you know he’d be working just as hard to get any one of us back. Not for the sake of Voltron, but because we matter to him. _You have to know that_ ,” Hunk said, bristled by the words Keith had uttered. Was this the guy who had such a clear picture of Lance earlier? Because suddenly it seemed Keith didn’t understand Lance at all. “But you know what isn’t helping him? _This_ .” Hunk said motioning his hands between Keith and himself. “Me having to come talk to you and make sure _you’re_ okay. I understand what you’re going through probably more than anyone on this ship. Lance has been my friend for a long time now, longer than anyone else. So all I can do is believe that he’ll do what he can to survive, and trust us to get to him in time. And then work at doing just that!” Hunk’s usual way with words was to take a diplomatic approach to situations and save the blunt statements for the others to dish out. This outburst was unexpected, but necessary. Keith looked up at him, not exactly comforted, but definitely motivated. Keith took two deep breaths before speaking again.

“You’re right. All I’m doing is hurting the effort to find him. So tell me: what can I do?” A renewed determination was visible in Keith’s expression. Hunk smiled, welcoming this new Keith to the fold.

“Okay, so we’re totally not able to listen to any communications within that system because of interference, right?” Hunk ran the facts by Keith to make sure he was up to speed. He held out a hand to Keith and helped him to his feet. “So Coran’s trying to use the Castle’s magic…..I don’t know what exactly it is, but that’s what I’m calling it, because what Coran was trying to explain to me made no sense with all of the Altean science involved, it was just too, um...but that’s not relevant. So, he’s using it to finetune signals. We’re trying to bounce them off of waves in nearby areas and see if we pick up any chatter that might get through to other stations, or clusters, or systems. I mean it’s a reeeaaally big long shot, but it would at least let us know if Lance was trying to communicate with us, which is a step in the right direction. Especially if he’s smart enough to throw us his coordinates. But if you could listen in on the frequencies it would free up Coran to work with Allura on a solution to our wormhole problem while Pidge and I try to figure out a way to work around the interference.”

“I’m on it,” Keith said, a half-hearted smile forming on his lips. They began walking to exit the Blue Lion’s hangar, when Hunk paused a moment. Keith stopped when he no longer heard his footsteps and turned around.

“Something wrong? We should really-” Keith began, then Hunk put up a hand to stop him.   
“Listen, I know this is probably the worst time to bring this up. I mean with everything going on, and the lack of time. But I need to ask you something that’s been bothering me,” Hunk said, his tone had taken a serious turn and he looked at Keith with an expression that was unsettling to the red paladin. Hunk looked defensive, ready to pounce if Keith answered whatever question he had incorrectly. Keith involuntarily gulped as he realized how Hunk hid in plain sight. His kindness and pacifist nature often shrouded the fact that he was very much a force to be reckoned with. Keith very much wanted to avoid a reckoning.

“O..kay,” Keith said, sliding a foot back in case he needed to bolt. Hunk’s features softened in a moment and he exhaled.

“Lance is my friend, Keith. I’d probably do anything to protect him and help him,” Hunk said.

“Yes,” Keith agreed. There was never a doubt in his mind about that fact. In fact, at this point in time, Keith assumed Hunk felt that way about the entire crew. Hunk scratched the back of his head and chewed on his bottom lip for a second while he tried to figure out how to phrase the rest of his question.

“So why are _you_ the one reacting so strongly to all of this?” Hunk asked. Keith felt the question hit him like a gut punch. He shifted his footing as if to properly carry the weight of what Hunk had just dropped on him. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to single you out like this, but...we’ve all kind of noticed the difference in the way you two have been acting with each other these past few days. It’s a relief to not have you at each other’s throats, honestly. And I’m sorry if I’m meddling,” Hunk walked past Keith towards the door and waved his hand for Keith to follow. Keith, still in slight shock from the original question, obeyed on auto pilot. “But how do you actually feel about Lance?” Hunk sounded like a concerned parent again; one who was asking a suitor exactly what his intentions were. Keith cleared his throat to answer, but words did not follow right away. It took a minute of walking with Hunk before Keith spoke again.

“Honestly…?”

 

**Four Days Earlier: Night**

 

 _What did I just do? What did I just do? WHAT DID I JUST DO?_ Keith was pacing his room at a speed that was probably not safe for such a small space. He just _hugged_ Lance. That was a thing that had definitely happened. Keith was throwing off his armor piece by piece instead of removing it in his usual meticulous method.

Keith knew that hugging was not a big deal to most people. To someone like Lance, who had grown up in a large family, it probably came as natural as breathing. But for Keith, the gesture was immense. The manner in which Keith grew up had left him with a reputation as frigid, but it was not an accurate description. He was just extremely cautious about who he let into his good graces; even more so when it came to physical contact and intimacy. He didn’t dislike physical displays of affection, but they meant more to him than they did to most; and if he was honest, there were few people who he considered worthy. If he was even more honest, Lance made it into that category almost immediately. Well maybe immediately was a strong word.

He had never disliked Lance. Not really in the way _Lance_ thought he did. He found him on the immature and incorrigible side, but there was not really any disdain for Lance. Well, aside from his occasional (read: regular and frequent) bad jokes, or his more extreme provocations that he let get under his skin. He didn’t even mind the cockiness after a few instances. Lance’s one-sided, imagined competition with Keith had become just a regular part of their day to day. It became almost..charming? Not charming, perhaps pathetic? It was like watching a puppy trying to climb a step that was way too tall for it, and you just wanted to help push it up. That was what Lance was: endearing. Like a puppy.

Like a puppy, Lance grew on him pretty quickly. Even in spite of all the forced bickering and one-sided competition, Keith couldn’t help but like the guy. Of course he didn’t realize the extent of his fondness until it hit him in the face in the form of green goo. When Allura had forced them into a food fight for the sake of teamwork, Keith let his guard down because he actually felt happy for the first time in who-knows-how-long, and then he heard those seven words. “I actually don’t hate you right now,” from Lance. Seven words that came at Keith like a double-edged sword. Keith felt like this was a breakthrough. A barrier between them had crumbled because Lance willing to put whatever made-up issues he had aside for the team. The team. And Lance did not hate him. Right now. Right now? Then came the inevitable realization that Lance, up until that point, had harbored very real disdain for Keith. And that realization hit him harder than the green stuff. It hurt like hell.

For the sake of their war, for the sake of Voltron, it was a feeling Keith tried to brush off. Hurt was a feeling he had learned to push aside long ago, when he finally hit a breaking point. Hurt was shut off, it had to be. And how it remained shut off was because of how he maneuvered around his relationships with others. He wasn’t going to let anyone get the better of him or his emotions anymore. He had _sworn_. Then Sendak threatened the Castle and that notion died pretty quickly for Keith.

Lance had taken the brunt of an explosion to save Coran, and his bravery nearly got him killed in the process. The feelings that he had tried to squash out of existence were flickering back on one by one as the evening progressed. It was hours that dragged on, especially considering he had been unable to help any of his team until the very end. But when Sendak was captured, and Keith was free to breathe again, the first thing he chose to do with this new freedom--which came as a total shock to Keith-- was run to Lance’s side and lift his damaged friend from the ground.

That shock was nothing compared to the curve ball Lance immediately threw to him, confessing---out of nowhere---that the two of them made a pretty good team after all. And Keith’s heart jumped, and that pretty much sealed the deal for him. Lance claimed not to remember anything from that night, of course. Whether it was the truth or not didn’t matter to Keith; it was already too late.

The flip had been switched and the feelings would not cease their bombardment. Whenever his mind would wander, it would head in the direction of Lance, even if it had to clear two forks and jump over obstacles to get to him. Keith was not stupid or naive. He wasn’t new to infatuation or to crushes, though he did happen to be a bit rusty. He knew exactly what this meant. It was the reason he couldn’t make fun of Lance for taking extra care of his looks, despite being at a seemingly unending war. It was why he acted like a creep and stood in hallways to listen to Lance having fun with Hunk, or Pidge, or the others; because he sounded happy, and Keith didn’t want to risk ruining it. It was why he had to look away from Lance when he was being particularly competent, so that no one would see the flush in his face.  It was why he wanted to help Lance improve in battle. Mostly, it was the reason he was in his room right now smashing a pillow into his face, wanting to die of embarrassment.

\--------

Lance hadn’t moved for approximately thirty minutes. He ran the scenario over and over in his head, trying to find the trigger that blew it all apart. He wasn’t even entirely sure what had just happened. He considered himself pretty good at reading people, but he hardly considered Keith a person. He functioned on little to no sleep, and his skills were almost programmed into him. It was very likely that Keith was a handsome cyborg posing as a teen. Okay, maybe not really. Lance had gone through the facts several times, though, and that was his least wild theory. But, more than anything, Keith was a ticking time bomb; one which apparently Lance had just inadvertently detonated.

He was still missing key pieces of this puzzle, mainly, _why_ Keith had hugged him, and why he felt the need to _apologize_ for hugging him. Hunk had hugged Lance at least a hundred times, and that was just since they had arrived on Arus. It was nothing to be embarrassed about. Except Lance couldn’t even count the times Keith had hugged anyone on one hand. It was not a thing that happened, at least not that Lance had witnessed. _One!_ Lance thought as he remembered that Arusian who took a liking to him. Lance smirked at the thought for a moment. It was like Keith was hugging a little doll. It was kind of...Lance grimaced at himself for getting off track. The point was this ship was full of huggers. He’d seen Pidge hug Shiro. Shiro was constantly patting backs. This group wasn’t a stranger to displays of affection, so what exactly _was_ Keith’s deal?

Lance connected at least _some_ of the dots. Keith was reacting to Lance talking about how he was almost barbecued alive and possibly dying alone. There was definitely some guilt lingering behind Keith’s eyes. That might at least explain the hug. Lance wondered if something in his tone had suggested he might need that hug. In all honesty, he was probably overdue for one, it was just odd that it came from Keith. Not to suggest it was a bad hug. A robot couldn’t hug like that. It was too warm. It was nice. Lance was very likely about to hug him back before Keith switched gears and pushed him away.

Lance exhaled through his nose, a tight frown fixed upon his lips. He leaned back on the sofa with crossed arms. So _why_ apologize? For stopping the hug? For the hug? What the hell was with that guy? Lance was mostly bothered by his fixation on it. He had already tried to drop it several times, but his mind kept leading him back to that moment. Lance knew the simple solution was in front of him, but if Keith had wanted to discuss it, he wouldn’t have run out of the room like he had. He could always take the scenario to Hunk, but it was hard to be discrete when there were only five people he could possibly be talking about. There was too much evidence in front of Hunk to put it together. Before Lance could get advice, he’d have to suffer through at least twenty of Hunk’s own questions. Plus Hunk had already made some pretty obvious implications about Keith to Lance that he did not want to dredge up again.

 _I’ll just sit here and ignore it. I don’t even care. If Keith wants to be a weirdo, he can be my guest,_ Lance thought to himself. He leaned back, uncrossing his arm and laying them across the top of the backrest in the most carefree looking manner he could muster. That was Lance: carefree and easygoing. This strategy worked all of four seconds before Lance wondered what it meant for their training sessions. Would they continue? Or was Keith too needlessly embarrassed to ever face Lance again outside of their Voltron duties? _That is a legitimate question_ , Lance thought to himself as he stood up and exited the lounge.

\--------

 

It had been and hour and Keith showed no signs of calming down. He had been pacing his room for at least twenty minutes, going over scenarios in his mind of how to deal with his current predicament. So far “pretend nothing ever happened” was winning over all the others. But that still led down an unfavorable path of status quo. Keith grimaced, considering how things would continue as per usual; he and Lance would have their back and forth, get along for temporary stretches, then inevitably find themselves arguing over something ridiculous again. Maybe he could just shoot himself out of an airlock and be done with it.

 _Stop being so dramatic! That’s why I’m in this situation,_ he thought to himself. The rest of the crew saw him as pragmatic and temperamental, but he was more like a poorly stitched together doll with emotion busting his seams open at the slightest provocation. _Just a hug, just a_ **_hug_ ** . The words kept repeating in his head, meant to calm him down, but only exacerbating his anger at himself for his unnecessary, knee-jerk reaction. Lance was probably off snoring in his bed, and would not even remember what happened by morning, and Keith was tearing himself apart over what, exactly? No secret was exposed; not really. Keith fell back onto his bed and spread his arms out. Was that his real issue? The _lack_ of what this all meant? That nothing would change? But he could have sworn---it was not his imagination---that Lance fully intended to reciprocate the hug. But that didn’t really mean anything either, did it? Keith sighed and covered his head with his pillow again.

“Hey, what are you _doing_?” A minute later, Lance’s confused tone hit Keith’s ears.

Keith shouted and reflexively threw his pillow as hard as he could at Lance. Lance dodged it easily, then smiled smugly at Keith.

“Don’t you knock?!” Keith shouted, sitting up in his bed.

“I did, but I guess you couldn’t hear it over your make-out sesh with the pillow,” Lance said in a petulant tone. He threw the pillow back to Keith who used an arm to block it and guide it to the bed.

“I wasn’t--ugh! What are you doing in here, Lance? What do you want, anyway?” Keith sat rigidly at the edge of his bed, arms folded as he eyed Lance up and down. He was in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms, and those ridiculous slippers, apparently fresh out of a shower. His hair was still damp and disheveled.

“Are you trying to get out of training with me?” Lance asked plainly, pointing an accusatory finger. Keith almost did a double take around the room, as if he could look at something else and it would explain what Lance was talking about.

“Huh? What? No, what are you talking about?” He was bewildered as to where the question was coming from. But that was usually par for the course when talking to Lance.

“The way you peeled out of there, you’re not trying to, like, use an excuse so you don’t have to train with me anymore, are you?”

“Lance, that is the stupidest thing I’ve heard you say all day,” Keith began rubbing his temples then drug his hands down his face slowly. “Why would I do that? I suggested it in the first place,” he reminded.

“Well maybe you thought I was more trouble than it was worth and wanted to find a way out,” Lance countered. Keith could not discern the look in Lance’s eyes. He looked afraid, but it didn’t seem like his heart was in these accusations. They were too far-fetched, even for him.

“Is training with me that important to you?” Keith asked, taking reigns on this conversation. He stood from his bed to gain higher ground, which didn’t really work since Lance was still taller than him.

“No--yes. I told you, man. I want to be a better asset to this team!” Lance said. Keith noted Lance’s body language. He was twitchy.

“And you’re sure...that’s it?” Keith asked.

“Well, yeah.” Lance had come into this room full of hot air, but Keith somehow managed to pin prick just the right nerve to deflate him.

“If that’s all, then no, I’m not trying to get out of training. I’ll be there bright and early to bother you tomorrow,” Keith said quietly, leaning back on the wall that made up the foot of his bed. When Lance didn’t move from his spot, Keith raised his eyebrows and shoulders in a “what” motion.

“Alright. Okay so, if that’s not the reason, can you tell me why you apologized and ran out of there like I was stinking up the place? I mean, I guess I was, but there seemed to be more to it than that.”

Keith nearly slid down the wall. He did not see that question coming. Lance had completely lulled him into a false sense of superiority. If this was a combat situation, Keith would have been down for the count. “It wasn’t anything,” he lied. It seemed like the easiest way to deal with this; if it just so happened to coincide with the cowardly way, he would worry about that later.

“Bull,” Lance said with a very obvious eye roll. “Were you apologizing for hugging me? Was it for something else?” Keith took in a deep breath and held it as he stared Lance down. He wanted to look away but the blue eyes bore into him without relent. They were distracting and mystical and turning him a new shade of red every second.

“Listen, I don’t know. I don’t hug. I didn’t mean to--but you said that thing about being charred, and I suddenly...because you weren’t. And you were...but I couldn’t, so it just seemed...” Lance wanted a camera. He needed a camera that instant because Keith was babbling and this felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture. But the babbling stopped in a moment because Keith was frowning again. “Why are you grinning like an idiot?” He demanded.

Lance shrugged, still smiling. A babbling, embarrassed Keith was kind of....cute. Lance let that sink in. He rarely ever let himself finish those thoughts. “So you’re just glad I’m not dead?” Lance cleared his throat, trying to clarify and stepping forward. Keith glanced at Lance’s stupid slippers and felt irrationally angry that someone could make him this tongue-tied while wearing cats on his feet.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.” Keith looked away from the slippers, then away from Lance entirely. He was not going to get dragged helplessly back into the pools that were Lance’s eyes.    
“So then if that’s the case, why the running away? Why say you’re sorry?” Keith had definitely noticed the decreased distance between the two of them. His heart was racing and his face was red, and he was nearly at his limit for this entire interaction.

“I’m sorry I hugged you because I know you don’t like me, and you hate me, and it was probably weird to have me hug you, and I was embarrassed, okay?” Keith blurted out, sounding more panicked than he’d like. He looked down, hoping to hide as much of his face as he could with his stray hair. But through the strands he saw Lance’s arms go up between them, waving in surrender.

“I’m sorry, man, this isn’t what I meant to do,” he said, stepping back. “I just wanted an answer. I didn’t want to freak you out again.” Lance said sincerely. He looked at the floor, trying to give Keith a minute to pull himself together.

Keith stood there quietly, catching his breath and brushing his hair out of his face. A minute passed and he finally felt okay enough to look at Lance again. His head was hanging and his hands were in his pajama pockets. “I wasn’t--” Keith started the lie, but there was no way he could sell it, and it was doubly unlikely that Lance would buy it. Lance looked up again, noticing Keith’s calmed posture and still flushed face. His chest tightened and he had a very irrational, very impulsive idea.

“Hey,” he said. “Let me just try something.” His eyes were focused intently on Keith’s face and Keith only raised an eyebrow in response. Lance stepped forward again with raised hands and a lax expression. For a split second, Keith thought Lance was going to finally do it. He was finally going to murder him. His immediate reaction was to jab his hand flat against Lance’s chest and pushing him back.

“Augh,” Lance choked out, grabbing his chest immediately.

“What are you doing?” Keith shouted. Lance rubbed the spot on his chest and breathed out roughly, coughing a couple of times.   
“How many times are you going to hit me today?” Lance demanded of him. He grunted out his pain and Keith tacked on guilt to his list of current intense emotions.

“What were you doing?” Keith asked again, more calmly.   
“I was going to kiss you,” Lance said between heaving breaths. “Why is violence always your first resort, guy?” Lance heaved out a loud breath in an attempt to get his airflow back to normal.

“What? I’m sorry! I thought..what?” Keith stammered, hiding his hands behind his lower back like he was hiding evidence.

“I was going to...whatever. The moment’s passed,” Lance said, rubbing his chest and looking slightly embarrassed. He liked to think he was a smooth operator but a lot of that depended on audience participation. “It was a stupid idea. Anyway, I’m gonna head back to my room and try and get some shut eye. If you’re still interested in training with me just come by my room tomorrow morning. Sorry in advance if I try to throw stuff at you,” Lance said, turning to leave the room. For the first time in a while, Lance had gotten the better of him. He was searching for words. “Oh, and probably don’t mention this to Hunk. He can’t be trusted,” Lance said over his shoulder. Keith wanted to stop him, but he could only stand agape and watch Lance disappear through his sliding door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one got away from me. Sorry!  
> Also as usual, many many thanks for the kind words! :)


	8. Teenagers

-ssccc-----------

\----------------------sss

\----guys, we aren’t dealin--------------I repeat, we’re not------

\-----ssstattcciiccc----

-S-sss----

\---ccttccc----

\------Blue, we gotta get up. Blue!-----------otta go!-------u---now!---

\--stttccc--attt------

-end transmission-

 

**3 Days Earlier: Morning**

 

Lance had lied about sleeping, which was a shame, considering how much he really needed it. He had drifted off a few times, but was quickly startled awake by an imagined Keith strangling him in his sleep. His hope was that he could just apologize and move forward. He wasn’t oblivious to the progress they had made, and the possibility that he ruined all of it due to one stupid moment of impulse. It was strange how his battle tactics differed so heavily from the ones he used to get by in his personal life. Maybe Big Red had chosen Keith for his instinctive piloting skills, but Lance flew by the seat of his pants when it came to most of his personal decisions. His relationships, his romances, the majority of his social situations were almost always guided by what felt right at the time. Not to say it didn’t occasionally bite him in the ass, he just hoped now was not one of those times. 

When the knock on his door came, it was timid; hesitant. Lance sighed in relief that there was any knock at all. “Come in,” he said. He was already in his athletic training attire, though at the rate he was getting his ass kicked by Keith, he probably should have been in full paladin armor. He stood as Keith walked in. It was actually more of a slow shuffle. He avoided eye contact for a moment until he noticed Lance was already dressed and ready to go.

“I can’t believe you’re up,” Keith said in utter shock. 

“I didn’t get much sleep,” Lance admitted, clasping his hands behind his back and pulling them back to pop his shoulders. 

“Oh,” Keith said, searching the room for anything to focus on aside from Lance. 

Lance sighed. “Listen, can we just, um, forget about last night?” He proposed. Keith looked up at him as if the suggestion shocked him. “Um..oh,” Keith repeated. 

Lance raised an eyebrow, but decided to just keep talking since he excelled at filling weird silences at this point in his life. “I’m just saying: I’m cool, if you’re cool. I don’t really want to undo...things?” Lance motioned with his hand, pointing at Keith then at himself. “So I was thinking of just going straight into my best joke material, then you’ll call me an idiot; rinse and repeat. Sound good?” Lance held out his fist to Keith, hoping it didn’t backfire into another accidental attack. Keith looked at it for a moment before forming a fist and bumping it softly. Lance was relieved to see a half-smile form on his lips. 

“Listen it doesn’t have to go back to normal  _ completely _ ,” Keith said. Lance felt his heartbeat doing acrobatics. Outwardly, however, he merely raised a curious eyebrow. “I am totally fine if you want to skip the jokes.” Lance grinned in surprise.

“I’m so proud to see that my wit is rubbing off on you,” Lance said as they walked out of the room.    
“Yeah right. Pidge is the real wit around here,” Keith replied, laughing when Lance let out a disgruntled “Hey!” 

\--------

The training session started as a repeat of the day before. They warmed up, ran, then began the real training. Lance continued working on his defenses, while Keith offered more verbal instruction now that he was aware of his weaknesses. Lance was barraged with a slew of back to back orders. “Arms up”- “eyes over here”- “pay attention to my body language”-“loosen up your footing now”. He couldn’t complain, though. He was improving. Every order was getting easier to anticipate; follow through was becoming easier and more reflexive.

Half-way through the session, during a particularly impressive sidestep on Lance’s part, he had an epiphone of how closely combat was connected to dance. He thought back to grade eight when he called his friends smelly nerds for joining a capoeira class while he took up swimming. Lance had told them he could already dance, which was true. But for the first time in his life, he regretted not joining them all those years ago. But his new insight could prove useful in the---Keith knocked him off his feet, bringing him back to the present. 

“I knew you weren’t paying attention,” Keith said to Lance, who was laying flat on the ground like it was his new home.    
“Then why’d you keep going?” Lance asked, disgruntled. Another sharp pain surged through his shoulder. He wasn’t sure there was an end in sight for the little bumps and bruises he was enduring. 

“Enemies aren’t going to fight fair, Lance,” Keith said, offering a hand to lift Lance up. 

“I think you just enjoy hurting me,” Lance said, taking the hand and jumping to his feet. The corners of Keith’s mouth were fighting against his tightly pursed lips as he shook his head.

“Aha! I knew it!” Lance said, punching him in the shoulder. Keith let his laughter escape while he rubbed the spot Lance had just hit. It was stronger than he had expected. 

“Let’s take a break. Afterwards, I think it’s time you switch to offensive,” Keith said through stifled laughter. “Okay, boss,” Lance said with a smile and a shrug. 

 

**2 Days Earlier: Morning**

 

If you asked Hunk, he had never seen Lance look worse. And yet he would also tell you Lance seemed completely okay with it. Hunk was worried though. He didn’t know just how helpful these training sessions were when they were running Lance ragged. How would he be able to fight the Galra if he was too exhausted from fighting Keith? Hunk sat in on their evening training session from the previous night, and from what he saw, Lance was faster, and thinking on his feet more, but mostly he was just moving around the training deck, trying to avoid total annihilation from Keith’s attacks. 

It was mid-morning, and Hunk just walked in on Lance sitting at the dining table, hair disheveled, only one arm through the robe that was half draped over him, one hand holding a spoon that he held in midair as he dozed off in his seat. Hunk walked over to his friend and used a finger to push his forehead back so that his head hit the backrest of his chair. Lance snapped to attention and nearly hit Hunk’s face with his empty spoon. 

“Geez, Lance!” Hunk said, grabbing the spoon away from Lance’s tight grip. “You look terrible. Why are you even awake? I heard Keith say you guys were taking a break today.” Hunk put the spoon down on the table by Lance’s plate of...nothing. He hadn’t remembered to get any food. Or he had eaten it before he decided to nap sitting up. Hunk sighed. 

“I know,” Lance said through a yawn. “I just haven’t slept well the past couple of days, Hunk.” 

“Why not? Is the training messing with your schedule? Honestly I’d think you’d be sleeping like a log with all the extra exercise you’re getting,” he took a seat beside Lance and watched him rub his eyes for a minute. 

“Just, a lot on my mind,” Lance said, blinking rapidly at his empty plate. He looked at Hunk with suspicion then back to his plate. “Did I--nevermind.” He pushed the plate away from him, suddenly not feeling very hungry anymore.

“Are you worried about the Galra? That electric wave?” Lance was too tired to combat Hunk’s expert prodding. Even though he knew Hunk did it for a good cause--to try and help--he had no energy to deal with him.    
“No, not that,” Lance said through another yawn, thinking of maybe trying to take another shot at sleep.

“Is it Keith? You guys seem to be getting along. Or was that just my imagination?” Hunk provided another set of answers since Lance was not exactly being forthcoming. 

“Keith? No, he’s...fine,” Lance answered sleepily. Unfortunately his exhaustion had his guard down, and even if it was only for a split second, Hunk immediately honed in on Lance’s softened expression at the mention of their local brooding teenager. 

“Oh my god,” Hunk said, his tone brimming with excitement. Lance stiffened and glanced over at his friend who had his hands over his mouth. 

“What?” Lance asked, but he could already feel the dread of knowing exactly what Hunk was thinking. His face grew hot as if by reflex. 

“Oh my  _ god _ !” Hunk repeated. His feet were now tapping the floor. He had seen Lance go through at least thirty-six crushes since meeting him, and none of them had stuck for more than twenty-four hours. Unless he counted Lance’s continual failed flirtations with Allura--which he absolutely did not. “I  _ knew _ it!” Hunk said in a long exhale. Lance grimaced and shook his head.

“You don’t know anything, Hunk!” He hissed. Hunk only grinned in response. Lance was not the greatest liar. His body language was always too honest. And right now it was telling him he was hot on the trail of some juicy information. 

“I knew it. I knew thou had..doth..protested way too much!” Hunk said, pushing Lance as far as he possibly could. 

“No! It’s not...you’re not... Listen Hunk,” Lance said, trying his best to regain composure, knowing that the more he flew off the handle, the more it would prove Hunk’s point. “I’ve just come to appreciate Keith’s skill and importance to the team. We’re finally building a friendship-” Lance cut his own words short when he saw the ridiculous look on Hunk’s face. Hunk looked at him the way most people would look at a kitten. “What?” Lance barked at him. Hunk tried to stifle his laughter, but wasn’t trying hard enough since the majority of it got through. Lance stood up from his chair. “Whatever, dude. I’m going to try and catch some more zzzs.” 

“My little Lance is growing up. Pidge owes me ten...ten uh, whatever currency we’re using now,” Hunk said, mostly to himself. 

“Whoa, hey! Whatever you...wait, you and Pidge’ve been  _ talking _ about me?” Lance folded his arms, indignant, and feeling genuinely angry at Hunk for probably the first time since they’d known each other. 

“Yeah, well you  _ and Keith _ . Pidge actually has a lot of really good theories on why you--” Lance cut Hunk off with a karate chop motion through the air. Hunk raised his eyebrows in surprise as Lance started waving a finger wildly in his face. He suddenly felt relieved that he hadn’t mentioned that Shiro had also been in on some of these discussions. 

“Stop! I don’t want to know! Just stop talking about me. _ And Keith _ . Stop hypothesizing or theorizing or whatever it is you two’re doing. We’re people, not some weird social experiment!” Lance pulled on his robe properly and shoved his hands down into the pockets, slouched his head between his shoulders and nearly stomped out of the room. Hunk bit his bottom lip to keep himself from smiling. Lance was, of course, right. But still, Hunk intentionally made no promises and wondered how long he’d be able to keep this information under wraps when Pidge was the best at wringing anything out of him. 

 

**2 Days Earlier: Evening**

 

Lance wandered the castle, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He had actually managed to pass out after his discussion with Hunk. Apparently mixing anger with all the other emotions that were bothering him at the moment seemed to do the trick. He wasn’t angry anymore, however. He could probably see himself doing the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot. Aside from fighting the Galra and defending the universe, what else were a bunch of isolated teens supposed to talk about while traveling through space. Still, he would have felt better if Hunk hadn’t told him anything at all. 

He had apparently slept the entire day away. When he got into the dining hall, the entire group was gathered around the table, waiting on dinner. Food hadn’t been dished out yet, which possibly meant they were getting something other than green goo tonight. Lance’s stomach grumbled at the thought. He placed a hand on it as he walked over to his friends. Hunk, Pidge, and--surprisingly enough--Keith were huddled at one corner of the table while Allura and Shiro were chatting on the opposite end. Hunk stood in between the chairs of Pidge and Keith. Pidge was completely enveloped by the armrests, legs crossed in front of them; meanwhile Keith leaned into his palm with his elbow on the table. Lance picked up his pace and pulled out the chair beside Keith to hear the tail-end of their conversation.

“--ever even heard of it, though? Who raised you? Aliens?” Pidge asked bluntly, not realizing the rude undertones of their question. Keith flushed and buried his face further into his palm.

“I didn’t grow up around a lot of television, okay?” He said, an embarrassed tone. “And I said I didn’t know if I heard of it. But I know you guys are talking about that FBI show with the conspiracies.” Keith spoke into his hand. 

“Not just any FBI conspiracy show, Keith. THE FBI conspiracy show,” Hunk said with a very serious expression, his hands tented beneath his chin.

“Oh my god, are we talking about The X-Files again?” The very thought was enough to pull Lance out of his groggy state.    
“We were. But then Keith asked what that was and well--” Pidge stopped speaking, using the silence to instead offer a disappointed head-shake at Keith. Keith’s eyebrows fell, not sure what the big deal was. 

“Oh my...Keith! Keith, please tell me this isn’t true. Just when I thought we could be friends,” Lance said, absently placing a hand on Keith’s shoulder. Keith glanced at the hand before turning to look at Lance. “Are you serious?” Keith asked. There was no hyperbole in his question. He truly didn’t know if Lance meant that his friendship with Keith could be dictated by a show that had not been on air for several years. 

“Pidge, please use your hacker skills to get us a stream. We need a binge-watch, stat!” Lance said, pointing at Pidge with his free hand. His response was a classic Pidge eyeroll.    
“Sure, let me just pull out my special multi-galaxy wifi set up and get to work on that,” Pidge said before throwing a spoon at Lance. Lance ducked and caught the spoon. 

“Oh sure, hacking an alien firewall, no problem, but getting us some Netflix is somehow impossible!” Lance joked. Hunk laughed, and made special note that Lance’s hand was still on Keith’s shoulder, who showed no signs of pulling away.    
“Lance it is a miracle you passed any of the Garrison technical courses,” Pidge said, catching the spoon as Lance tossed it back. 

“I sat behind Hunk. So it was pretty easy,” Lance said sarcastically. No one but Hunk knew if that was true or not.    
“Okay so the series is about Mulder and Scully, right?” Hunk finally interjects, holding his hands parallel to each other in order to use them to help him tell the story. “And Mulder is like this total alien conspiracy nut--” Hunk began to explain until a snort from Lance cut him off.

“You can’t call Mulder a nut when he was right all along!” Lance interrupted, finally removing his hand from Keith’s shoulder to wave a finger at Hunk. Hunk’s expression dropped and he let out a long groan “Lance! Way to spoil things!” He snapped. 

“But aliens are real. We fight them or meet new ones almost daily,” Keith said plainly, not understanding Hunk’s tone of disapproval. 

“Noo, you don’t get it,” Hunk whined. Just then Coran popped into the dining hall waving two smoking oven mitts in the air. 

“Dinner will be served in a moment! Everyone take your seats! You’re really going to love tonight’s meal! I promise it’s completely dead this time!” Coran said with an eyebrow wriggle before disappearing back through the kitchen doors. Something told Lance he was going to have to settle for goo after all. 

“We’ll continue this discussion after dinner!” Hunk said in a serious tone before taking a seat on the other side of Lance.

“You won’t be disappointed. Between Pidge’s memory and Hunk’s flair for storytelling, they’ll probably give you a pretty decent rundown of the show,” Lance said in an aside to Keith. 

“Cool,” Keith said softly, an equally soft smile forming on his lips. Lance looked away from Keith only to see Hunk staring at him with a goofy grin on his face. As Coran burst into the dining hall with a platter full of who-knows-what, Lance fruitlessly punched Hunk’s arm. 

  
  



	9. A Plan

\-----stttttttttt--

-sttiicc---

\---so, funny...story. When I sa--before----I wasn’t doing too good---------

\---sttaticcc--

\----losing a lot of blood. But on the bright------did manage to take down the-------

\--sttccccccc-----

\---aaaaaaaaaattt-----

\----cccc-----

\---if I die-------------------dyou to know------

\--stattt----icciiccc----

-end transmission-

 

**8 hours Earlier**

 

“Absolutely _not_. I will not send you all in again without the Castle as backup. I’ll not risk the separation if another wormhole falls apart,” Allura stated, steadfast in her decision, her hands up to block anymore dissent. That didn't stop Shiro, however.

“We can’t risk the ship if Galra were willing to send forces through a wormhole to get to you. They’re obviously planning something, and we have no idea what it is!” He said, shaking his head. He was dead set against Allura’s plan to follow them into a hostile system. They still lacked a fully formed plan and because of the impossibility of being able to fully scout the system, they had no idea the numbers and strength they were up against.

“What I can and cannot do with the ship falls on my shoulders. I appreciate your concern, Shiro, but you act as though the Castle of Lions is completely defenseless. We have barriers, we have ion cannons. We have tricks up our sleeves that you haven’t seen in action yet,” Allura said, edging on boastful. Shiro stood on the opposite side of a holographic map from Allura, looking defeated, but still, obviously, completely disapproving. They were in the control room with the rest of the crew huddled around personal monitors doing their own work. Coran looked up from where he stood over Pidge’s shoulder.

“While I loathe to put the Princess in Galra territory, she’s right. Plus, if the plan Pidge is cooking up succeeds, we’ll be able to stay safely cloaked until absolutely necessary.”

“Okay, yeah, but the thing about that is,” Pidge interjected, looking up from the monitor at which they had been working and pushing the glasses up their nose, “the power drain for cloaking is immense. You won’t have access to a barrier system or the cannons while cloaked. You have to pick either-or. Plus, once the cloaking is disabled, you’d still need time to recharge the ship’s power to the canons.” Shiro folded his arms, hating the plan more and more.

“So you’ll be helpless out there if you have to uncloak? Or if they read the signature on the ship and start firing?” Shiro grimaced at the thought. It was hard enough losing Lance. After all they were going through to find him, only to lose Allura too, he didn't have the strength to deal with that.

“Well then why don’t we just do the easy option of hopping just outside the system and having the ship wait there on backup?” Hunk interjected. He tapped the monitor in front of him and a galaxy expanded on the map between Shiro and Allura. Hunk tapped some more and three solar systems within the galaxy were highlighted. “Look! Those three systems are all located in the same galaxy. If we make a hop to one of them, we could travel to the next system without having to jump a wormhole. The ship would be out of range there, but if we needed the back-up, they could come in.” Before anyone answered, Hunk was calculating distances and travel times and scanning possible trajectories.

“So far this plan sounds better than the others,” Shiro said, still not sounding in full support of it.

“Yes. That’s if the electrical issues were unique to that system. We don’t know the cause yet,” Pidge offered. Hunk exhaled through his nose, visibly frustrated by the challenge to his plan.  
“Pidge, I know you really want to try to piggyback one wormhole on another, but I don’t think that is a sound solution. Especially if the wormholes get all weird and purpley again!”

“If we piggybacked, we could lead the enemies to a fake spot and then be out of there and to another spot before they realized what we were doing!” Pidge argued, voice getting louder, as if that made their idea more practical.

“But if they’re _expecting_ us to--” Hunk started shouting back, standing from his chair. He was abruptly cut off by Keith’s own shouting.

“Guys, guys, GUYS! You need to hear this!” His voice was frantic. His one job had been to scan to several hundred signals and frequencies, listening for any broadcasts or communications that might be picked up from the system; from Lance. He had been mute for over an hour, ignoring the several mini squabbles between his friends, straining to hear anything the least bit familiar through the static and beeping and other noises coming in. He pulled the headphones down around his neck and tapped and swiped his screen. Suddenly a line of static started playing over the speakers in the control room, then a voice cut through it.

“-nanbody hear m--” The control room grew quiet as the vacuum in space. The mechanical noises of the ship and the broadcast were suddenly the only sounds. No one even seemed to be breathing.

“--iro, Hunk, Kei-----nybody? I’m--” The majority of the communication was cut out by static, but it was definitely Lance. It was Lance, and he was alive. His voice was low and raspy, weak; it was abundantly clear. But he was alive. They continued listening in utter silence until the message ended and repeated.

“He’s alive. Oh god! Yes, _yes_ ! I _knew_ it,” Hunk blurted as he wiped nonstop tears from his eyes. Pidge smiled, leaning back in their chair and grinning ear to ear, before Coran picked them up and bounced them around in an excited hug. In her excitement, Allura jumped forward through the hologram to hug Shiro. His expression shifted from relief to surprise to comfort in a matter of seconds and slowly moved his arms to reciprocate the hug.

The only member of the crew that remained silent was Keith. He squinted at the screen in front of him, rubbing his eyes after a moment. His brows furrowed more deeply as he swiped around on his screen. The excitement in the room died down after a moment and seemed to melt into a renewed motivation for finding their friend. They were going to get their Blue Paladin back.

“I want to send something back. To let him know we’re coming for him,” Keith said after a minute of fiddling with his screen. His voice was calm, which didn’t match up with his expression at all. He looked ready to blow, or ready to pass out. His eyes were red around the rims and his dark circles seemed a lot darker than usual.

“Let me see,” Coran said, walking over to Keith and looking at his screen over his shoulder. He tapped some keys and then swiped the screen, enlarging a corner then swiping it away. After a moment of this he started clucking his tongue.

“This is a recording from the Blue Lion’s distress beacon. If he’s using that, it may be that his normal communication equipment is...down,” Coran hesitated, looking nervously to the princess. The worry was mirrored back at him, a frown deepening on her face. She stepped towards them.

“Well then can we use this to like, ping his location?” Keith asked, his tone expressing his impatience, which was nonstop snowballing.

“Not exactly, Keith,” Allura said. “If the Blue Lion were at all functioning properly, I would have been able to locate it through the castle and narrow our search down hours ago.” She hesitated to tell them. She had hoped it was just the interference in the system causing the disconnect from the Castle to the Blue Lion, and not something more dire.

“Wait, _‘functioning properly’_? Do you mean the Blue Lion is wrecked?” Pidge broke into the conversation, jumping from their seat and walking over to Allura. Allura felt the eyes of all the paladins on her, their bodies circling around her, tensing the air.

“Coran and I had hoped...it was not the case. But if he’s forced to use his distress beacon at all, it would be because the Blue Lion is so severely damaged that all of its communications-- as well as its backups-- are offline,” she explained to them.

“ _What_?!” Keith uttered through clenched teeth. His fist was forming on the surface of his workspace.

“Could it be that maybe Lance is just trying to...preserve power? Maybe he forgot..about backups?” Hunk offered futilely. Even he didn’t believe that last suggestion.

“The Blue Lion could potentially be preserving its power supply. But that would likely also be due to heavy damage,” Coran said, seeing Allura somewhat overwhelmed at the prospect of having to give them more bad news. “He at least has access to an emergency kit in his cockpit. It contains first aid, survival gear, things that we have for just such a situation. Not to mention the survival training Allura--” Coran was interrupted. He was okay with that since he had no idea if his words were offering _anyone_ much comfort, himself included.

“We need a plan _now_ ,” Keith said, standing. He was done. His last iota of patience had been used up and his body was quivering with anger and panic.

“Right,” Shiro said, immediately decisive. “Okay, I say we go with Hunk’s plan. It has less potential of danger.” He looked to Allura. “I can’t leave one of my paladins out there wounded, Princess. I’m giving Pidge and Hunk an hour to figure out a work-around to the interference, but after that we have to move out. If the Blue Lion is in as bad a condition as you say, we can’t risk any more time!” Allura merely nodded, not bothering to tell him and the rest of the paladins that she was in total agreeance with that sentiment.

“An hour?” Pidge said, shooting Hunk a doubtful look. Hunk smiled at her, determination the only emotion available in his expression and gave a thumbs up. “We got this!” He said.

“I’ve been mulling over an idea, but I’m not a hundred percent that it will work, or how we’d even accomplish it,” Pidge offered, walking over to Hunk. Pidge pushed some buttons on their armor and pulled up a screen to show Hunk. He nodded with his face in his hand, his thumb scratching the side of his chin. Hunk didn’t at all seem deterred by the unfinished issues with this plan. In fact, upon hearing Lance’s voice again, he had become a ray of sunshine. His friend was alive. They were going to find him. _He knew it._

“We can work with this. _Coranic_! Let’s get cracking!” Hunk said, waving him over enthusiastically. Hunk was in a focused, determined mode that they hadn’t seen since they went to rescue Shay and her people.

Allura and Shiro pulled Hunk’s trajectory map back up to go over it and devise the safest, quickest route possible. Shiro glanced between the map and Hunk, half-smiling in spite of everything. Hunk just had that effect. He was unflappable, and it was rubbing off on Shiro.

“Tell me how much Alteans know about magnets,” Hunk said, clapping his hand on Coran’s back.

“Pfft, we wrote the _book_ on magnets while your species were still trying to figure out what agriculture was! 274 books to be precise!”

“How do you know that off the top of your head?” Pidge asked as the three of them walked toward the control room exit.

Shiro glanced up again and noticed Keith sitting at his workstation, headphones back on. To most, he might have looked self-possessed and focused, but Shiro could see that he was barely holding it together. Shiro touched Allura’s shoulder gently.

“I’ll be right back,” he said before passing her and walking over to person he best knew on this ship. “Hey,” he said, when reaching Keith. Keith didn’t move but his eyes looked up and acknowledged Shiro’s presence. Shiro tapped his ear to suggest Keith remove his headphones; he did.

“We’re getting him back, Keith.” There was not a grain of doubt within him. His voice was steady and stern. It was a soothing tone Keith had grown accustomed to, that had gotten him through some rougher aspects of his life; but at that moment it was a trigger. All of the agonizing Keith had gone through in the past few hours, all of the stress that was building inside him came pouring out in a frantic sob. Keith leaned over in his chair, ashamed, tears hot on his cheeks as his hands tried to keep up with wiping them away. Shiro walked around the workstation and put his hand on Keith’s back, rubbing it lightly as Keith tried to compose his breathing. Keith shuddered as he inhaled, pulling it all back inside him.

Once he steadied his breathing, he sat up, placing a grateful hand on Shiro’s. His face was red, and Shiro didn’t know whether it was from embarrassment at his outburst or the force of it. He wouldn't be surprised if it was both. 

“I’m fine,” he said in a hoarse voice.

“I know,” Shiro said gently.

“I don’t want him to die,” Keith added quietly, his voice wavering slightly. He flicked a final tear from his fingers.

“I know. None of us do. He won’t,” Shiro said, squeezing Keith’s shoulder. Keith only nodded in response. Shiro walked back to aid Allura and Keith pulled the headphones back on, straining to listen for any other signs from Lance.

 

**6.75 Hours Earlier**

 

All the paladins were gathered in the main hangar, listening to Pidge explain how their communications system had been boosted.

“---and honestly it’s still gonna be pretty spotty, but it was the best we could do in a limited time,” Pidge explained, face flushing. Shiro pat down on Pidge’s helmet.

“We know you did your best, Pidge. We all did, and we’re going to find him! Now, you all have maps downloaded into your armor in case the Lions get glitchy again. We’re to avoid battle as much as possible; we don’t want to bring attention to ourselves. Remember, our priority is finding Lance, and Blue. We can worry about fighting Galra at a later date when Lance is back with us, got it?” His eyes darted between the paladins and rested on Keith.

“Yes,” he grumbled. There was no way he was going to risk Lance’s life for a chance to fight. Pidge and Hunk offered their own affirmatives and Hunk put an arm around Keith and shook his shoulders.

“We got this,” he said quietly. Keith half-smiled, wanting to believe him.

“So are we all clear? Any questions?” Everyone shook their heads.

“We have Lance’s channel open in case he decides to broadcast his coordinates. We'll let you know of any developments,” Allura said over an intercom from the control room.

Two more recordings from Lance had come in over the past hour. From what they could make out, by playing them all together, was that Lance was definitely injured, bleeding; possibly with a major injury to one of his legs. His latest recording had just mostly been observational with quiet, shallow breathing, as though he was swimming in and out of consciousness. Keith's heart dropped after listening to that one. He immediately set up the channel to broadcast to him within the Red Lion, not willing to wait on updates from Allura. Who knows if they’d even get through to them?

“We all know the plan, so let’s get to our Lions. Allura?” Shiro said through his helmet.

“We’re going through the wormhole momentarily, and your trajectories will be uploaded in the Lions’ systems,” she informed them. “Good luck, Paladins. I know you can do this!”

The crew did as they were ordered, dispersing to their Lions. Keith was surprised that as soon as he was in the pilot’s seat, another broadcast was coming through on Lance’s channel. In the middle somewhere, Keith keyed in on an important phrase “---my coordinates. They’re----” before the static cut him off again. Keith groaned, never knowing a time when he had been more frustrated. He cursed under his breath. It was just like Lance to not utilize brevity in a time when it could probably save his life. But then that wouldn’t be Lance, would it? There was another minute of static before the transmission ended. Something seemed off about it, almost. Keith shook away the eerie feeling it gave him as Shiro’s commands came through his helmet.

“Alright, let’s move out!” Before Shiro had even completed the command, Keith was zipping out of his hangar at neck-break speeds.


	10. Brewing Storm

-ssst-ttttttttt-c--

\----rry. Didn’t mean to get all sen-----------

\----hhhhh---just-----find me soon, guys-----

\--s-tttc---iiiiii---iiiii-ttttticcccaaaact-----

\--ssssttttiiicicaaaccc----sss----t-

-end transmission-

 

**1 Day Earlier: Noon**

Keith was trying to blink away the white spots from his eyes. He could hear the others calling his name, but for a few seconds, it just didn’t register. It was like waking from a really disorienting dream, and he needed a moment to place himself; to remember exactly where he was. He put his palm to his ear and put pressure against it to stop the ringing.

“Keith, buddy, say something. Shit!” Lance’s voice sounded nervous, which wasn’t very _Lance_ of him. Keith wanted to smile at the thought, but he was preoccupied with trying to get his vision in order. He suddenly saw a blurry figure, that could have only been Lance, standing over him.

“I’m fine I think,” Keith said with a very slight slur, before moving his jaw side to side. He felt Lance’s knees graze his side as he knelt down to try and pull him up. “Whoa, or not,” Keith mumbled, feeling a headrush as he sat up. Lance moved him back down to the ground and Keith saw him motion towards the wall. Before he had a chance to ask what he was doing, Hunk ran up with a water bottle and Lance grabbed Keith’s hand to move it from his forehead and put the bottle in its place. Keith closed his eyes at the cool sensation and Lance placed his hand down on the bottle.

"That was a rough landing. I thought you'd snapped your neck!" Lance said, his tone still full of nervous energy.

“I can’t believe you flipped him,” Keith heard Pidge’s voice chime in, somewhere in the room. Despite the statement, she didn’t sound very impressed. “I honestly thought Keith was just in here kicking your ass every day for fun. I didn’t actually think you were gonna learn anything!” There it was.

“Come here and say that to my face and I’ll show you just how much I learned!” Lance said in a playful tone, a hint of irritation underlying in it. Keith heard Pidge’s snort-laugh and he smiled, trying not to make it too obvious.

“What?” Lance said. Keith realized the question was directed at him but he didn’t open his eyes. He had Lance’s face pictured perfectly in his mind: grinning but with a mock glare in his eyes. He opened his eyes, saw his guess was spot on, then closed them again.

“I _was_ kind of kicking your ass every day for fun,” Keith murmured through his smile, his voice bubbling with laughter. He heard both Hunk and Pidge laughing from wherever they were in the room. Close enough to hear him, obviously.

Lance made a quiet, disapproving noise and Keith continued to stifle the laugh that was itching to erupt from him. The lightheaded feeling was already dissipating and Keith was feeling well enough to get up. Before he could even mention this to anyone, Lance grabbed the bottle from its place at Keith’s forehead and Keith opened his eyes just in time to see Lance squeezing the bottle directly into his face. Keith shot up to a seated position, spitting and wiping his mop of bangs and water from out of his eyes. Lance was already darting away to the others, laughing hysterically.

“He’s going to kill you for that, you know,” Pidge said deadpan, not a hint of concern in the statement for Lance’s wellbeing. Lance quieted his laughter to speak while Keith jumped to his feet.

“Nah, I can just _flip him again_ ,” Lance boasted, a cocky grin spread wide on his face.

“Uh, he looks kind of mad, Lance, maybe you should…” Hunk began as Keith faced them. He stopped himself when the frown on Keith’s face slowly curved into a smile. Hunk grimaced in confusion, not really noticing a positive aspect of his new expression, but Lance caught on immediately.

“Challenge issued?” He said, his grin intact.

“Challenge accepted!” Keith corrected him. Lance halted a moment, nodding, then bolted towards the center of the room, the water bottle still in hand. Hunk and Pidge watched the display from the sidelines, bewildered.

Keith ran straight for Lance and jumped into the air with a high kick, but Lance easily dodged and rolled out of the way, emptying more of the water bottle on Keith. The water was cold against his arms, but he completed his land on his foot and in the same instance spun to face the direction in which Lance had gone. He was already bolting away. Keith ran after him.

“You’re gonna wind yourself,” he told Lance with a know-it-all smile. Lance laughed with a loud “Pah!” at the end of it.

“Or you’ll get winded first with those short legs of yours!” Lance said, continuing his sprint.

“I’m like an inch shorter than you, you---” Keith said, catching up to Lance who had turned to face him. “Give the bottle to me,” he said calmly. He held his hand out in a simple gesture, but Lance could tell by his body language he was ready to spar. Lance held the bottle behind him.

“Take it!” Lance provoked. Keith pretended the thumping in his heart was from the running, then moved forward, trying to place a hit while simultaneously going for the bottle.

Meanwhile, Pidge and Hunk watched in an uncomfortable awe. Lance was blocking Keith one-handed, broke the melee by kneeling into a slide kick that forced Keith to hop out of the way.

“I feel like we shouldn’t be watching this,” Pidge said, not exactly embarrassed; more in the realm of disgust at some breach of decency. Hunk suppressed a laugh, paying too much attention to Lance’s skill level. Pidge side-eyed him and noticed his focus matched with confusion. “He can’t have improved this much over the course of 3 days. What’s the deal?” Pidge said what they were both thinking. Lance was running again. He still had the bottle.

“Either Keith’s going easy on him...or maybe, I dunno. Maybe Lance just wasn’t trying as hard before?” Hunk said quietly, wondering if that could possibly be true.

Lance had an unfair reputation as a slacker. The only time he had seen Lance slack off was when he was already ahead. Hunk saw how hard he worked at the Garrison. He had personally studied with him and helped him figure out some of the work in his harder courses. But every grade Lance received, he had earned; and Lance had pretty good grades. So it was inconceivable to think that Lance was not giving it his all until just now. Unless….

“Maybe he just needed the right motivation to push him harder?” Hunk posed the question under his breath. Pidge heard him and raised an eyebrow watching Keith land two hits that forced Lance to the ground. Just as quickly as he had fallen, he used his legs to trip up Keith then sent one leg into the backs of Keith’s knees, forcing him down to the ground on all fours. Lance sprayed Keith with the bottle directly in the face. While Keith cleared hair out of his eyes, Lance used the opportunity to get up and move out of range.

“Yeah, he’s definitely trying to impress Keith,” Pidge said in an uninterested tone, arms folded. “Do you think he realizes it?” Pidge asked, nudging Hunk gently in his side with an elbow. Hunk broke his concentration on the “match” for a moment and looked down at Pidge’s menacing half-smile. He smiled and shook his head, then focused on the fighting again.

“If he does, he’s playing ignorant pretty well.”

“It’s his specialty,” Pidge added. Pidge thought to say more about the obvious display of flirtation going on in front of them, but it looked like their entertainment was coming to a close.

Keith had Lance cornered. Lance could have tried to move around him, but it meant leaving his back open for attack, which usually hurt more than a lot of Keith’s other attacks (his shoulder blades were already significantly bruised). Keith was only a couple of feet from him, still in a battle stance, ready to lunge at the drop of a hat.

“Hand it over,” Keith demanded, panting, sweat dripping from his chin. Or maybe it was water, he wasn’t sure at that point. He had various strands of hair sticking to his face and his eyes were resolutely set on Lance’s, sucking Lance’s focus in like two black holes. Lance scrunched his eyebrows and his face twisted when he realized the directions his thoughts were suddenly taking. He mentally shook it off and grinned. He held the bottle high above his head. They may have been nearly the same height, but Lance’s arms had an extra length to them.

“Keith,” he said between inhales. Keith merely raised an eyebrow in response, his eyes scanning Lance’s body for a weakness, trying to figure out his next move.

“You can pry this bottle from my cold, dead hands,” Lance informed him and tried to make a break for it. He knew the effort was futile as soon as he made the decision to do it, but it was his only option.

Keith’s moved swiftly to catch Lance over his shoulders and pull him into a headlock. The impact of his body against Lance’s tripped them up and they toppled down together. It took Lance a few seconds to gather himself and grip Keith’s forearm with his free hand, trying to pull it away from his neck. It was useless, he knew after a few seconds. Keith had just the right mixture of strength and applied pressure to force Lance into a state of immobility. He might be able to stand again, but he was pretty sure he’d end up giving Keith a free piggyback ride in the process. Lance tapped Keith’s forearm instead, coughing out his breaths. Keith smirked and grabbed the water bottle, dropping Lance to the ground. He then sat upon Lance’s unmoving body currently lying face down on the floor. He took a victorious sip of what was left in the water bottle. Suddenly Pidge began a slow-clap and Keith abruptly recalled that they had had an audience the entire time. He looked up, face flushed and sweating, his body prickling with sudden embarrassment.

“You finally killed Lance. Nice work,” Pidge said, a half-smile forming on her face. Keith smirked. Lance made some sort of garbled noise of objection into the floor but showed no other signs of movement aside from his chest heaving as he caught his breath. Keith looked down at Lance and was suddenly very aware he was sitting on Lance’s butt. He jumped to his feet, nearly toppling Pidge over as he bumped into her.

“Lance, where have you been hiding _that_ this whole time?” Hunk said, brimming with enthusiasm. He walked up behind Pidge, clearly having missed out on what exactly the roguish smile on Pidge’s face was in regards to. Lance slowly turned over onto his back and spread his arms out.

“Hunk, I have always been this good. Keith just reminded me,” Lance said, letting out an airy laugh between his heavy breaths. He suddenly realized how that sounded, but he knew an embarrassing retraction would only make it worse. Plus, he was just too winded to feel too embarrassed.

“Aw, you just needed to believe in yourself. The power was within you the whole time,” Pidge mocked, nudging Lance’s body with a foot. Lance raised his arm, wobbling, and flipped up his middle finger, waving it in the air for seconds before dropping his arm back to the floor.

“Well, whatever he did, it’s working. You guys were pretty cool out there,” Hunk said, uninterested in the silly bickering match that was underlying the conversation. “I’d join you guys if I thought I could keep up.”

Keith raised an eyebrow, not sure if Hunk meant it, or if he was placating the both of them. He smiled lightly. “If you’re serious, Hunk, I could probably--” Keith started. Lance groaned loudly as he pushed himself off the ground and walked to Keith, propping an elbow on his shoulder.

“I’m so starved! Are you starved? We should eat,” he said abruptly to Keith, cutting into the conversation.

“Yeah I guess, but…” Keith started again, gesturing toward Hunk. Lance was very swiftly pulling him towards the exit of the training deck by his hand. The act disoriented Keith and he forgot what he was about to say entirely.

“We’ll see you guys later!” Lance said loudly, without turning back towards Hunk and Pidge. The two remaining paladins looked at each other, suspicion painted all over their faces.

“What the heck was that?” Pidge asked plainly.

“Rude!” Hunk answered indignantly.

“Hey, so, you wanna go try some more equations for the rocket boosters?” Pidge offered, the first hint of enthusiasm in their voice that Hunk had heard all day.

“Um, do you even have to ask?” Hunk responded, already forgetting to be annoyed by Lance.

 

**1 Day Earlier: Noon, Elsewhere in the Castle**

“These readings are very strange indeed,” Allura muttered as she squinted at the holograms that were scrolling up in front of her. She held her jaw between her index and thumb while her free hand was petting one of the mice on her shoulders. “I thought we already marked off this system.” The mice squeaked in assent.

“Princess, you’re mumbling,” Allura turned to find Coran at the entrance of the control room. “You spend far too much time in here on your own,” he said softly, a hint of concern in his voice. Allura smiled affectionately.

“I’m not alone. The mice are with me. I was talking with them,” she informed him. That did not appear to ease his concern.

“Well, you should really get around the Castle more, converse with _people_ , one of these days?” Coran said, stepping further into the room so that he was only a few feet from her.

“There is still so much to be done in the Castle: maintenance, and repairs, and drills, and systems checks. On top of that we have so much to do in the fight against the Galra. Zarkon’s been around for ten thousand years, he doesn’t rest. And neither can I. Neither can any of us,” Allura’s determination tapered out by the end of her sentence into more of a weary complaint.

“You sound just like Shiro. Maybe you should talk to him, commiserate over your burdens of war together,” Coran said in a much-too-sly tone. The color in Allura’s cheeks deepened as she turned to shoot Coran a particular glare that she had honed over the years as a princess of Altea. Coran threw his hands up in a silent resignation and smiled lightly.

“Well, at least tell me what you’re doing,” he suggested instead. Allura beckoned him beside her with a slight nod and he walked up to the hologram screen.

“See this system. There’s a distress signal going off there, but we’ve already been there. It was about a week or so ago, do you recall? The planets with life were still pretty young. No sapient creatures inhabited it, or perhaps had not yet evolved,” Allura said, pointing to the parts of Altean script that scrolled quickly upwards.

“A downed ship, then,” Coran offered the only obvious answer.

“Perhaps,” Allura dragged the word out. It was apparent in her tone that she did not agree with Coran’s immediate assessment. “It looks to be in one of the more lush planets,” she said, more to herself than to Coran. She was tapping her chin and squinting carefully. “Something about this signal is very odd to me, Coran. I can’t place it,” she finally admitted after a moment. She spun around to face Coran.

“Would you like us to go down then? Or we can send the paladins down,” he said.

“No. Hmm, actually I’d like for a scout team to go in. Quickly and quietly, to assess the situation,” Allura nodded with her own decision and began walking from the control room, Coran following closely behind.

“I take it you want Shiro to go in, then?” Coran asked as he picked up his pace to jog.

“No, the Black Lion is too large for a mission like this. But please tell him what’s going on. He would probably like to be in the control room when it happens.” Allura looked over her shoulder to get a quick nod from Coran, then continued her quickened pace in the opposite direction.

 

\--------

Keith and Lance sat side by side at a kitchen counter, untouched bowls of green in front of them. Keith’s hair was tied back and he was poking at his dish. He glanced at Lance and grimaced, redness crawling up from his neck to his face. Lance was not even trying to hide the fact that he was staring.

“Stop!” Keith said. “I thought you were hungry! You haven’t even eaten anything!”  
“Yeah, but _you_ put your hair up in a bun! _A bun_!” Lance said. Keith couldn’t tell if Lance was making fun of him or not. There was no malice in his tone, only amusement. Either way, having eyes constantly on him was dredging up a feeling of shyness he wasn’t comfortable with.

“So what. My hair’s wet! And I wouldn’t have had to put it up if you hadn’t emptied an entire bottle of water on my head!” Keith said, making a concerted effort to shove some food into his mouth and ignore the eyes boring into the side of his head.

Lance snickered. “Don’t exaggerate. It was only like, half the bottle.” Lance picked up a spoonful of his food.

“Stop staring at me or you’re going to be covered in the goo,” Keith warned.

“Sorry! I’m just so surprised,” Lance said, resting his chin on his free hand that was propped up on the table. Keith looked to him, eyes lowered in curiosity.

“About what?” He asked hesitantly.

“Well all this time, between the jacket, and the armor, and the hair, I just never knew you even had a neck!” Lance said with a final obnoxious grin before stuffing his food into his mouth and practically swallowing it in one gulp. Keith stood from his chair ready to fling his entire bowl on Lance as payback for the water and his teasing, but Allura came rushing into the room with a fat mouse lying atop her head. Even after all this time, it still took some getting used to to see a princess covered in rodents. Even cute, Disney-esque ones.

“Hey Allura! Look! Keith has a neck!” Lance said, continuing his obnoxious streak and gesturing with his spoon towards Keith's neck. Keith satisfied his urge for revenge with a quick push to the back of Lance’s head. Lance only laughed harder when he nearly fell out of his chair.

“That’s..yes. Um Keith, I’ve been looking for you! Pidge said you might be here. I need to speak with you right away, I have a task for you.” Allura said, waiting by the doorway. Keith jogged over to her and Lance eyed them suspiciously and strained to hear their conversation while shoveling the rest of his goo into his mouth.

“Keith, I have a scouting mission for you, and Pidge,” Allura informed him. Keith tilted his head at the news, surprised by the information.

“Just the two of us? Not the entire team?”

Allura shook her head. “No. The Green and Red Lions are smaller and more capable of stealth, what with your piloting skills and Pidge’s cloaking system.” Keith nodded in agreement. “I’m not sure how dangerous it will be, but something does not sit right with me. I’ve received a distress signal from a planet we’ve already been through before. About, one or two of your Earth weeks. Those lush, uninhabited planets?” Allura paused a moment to make sure Keith was keeping up.

“Hm, yeah. There was no intelligent life there. So, a crashed ship?” Keith remembered, coming to the same conclusion Coran had.

“It is a possibility, but something is nagging at me that there might be more to it than that. If it is a crashed ship in need of assistance, you two can alert us and we can come down to you. But if there is anything out of the ordinary, I want the both of you returning immediately. Pidge has already been debriefed and is getting suited up. I need you ready in ten minutes,” Allura ordered. Keith nodded.

“Okay, I’ll be in my hangar in five.” Allura nodded, making a hasty exit to get back to the control room and prepare for the mission. Keith made to follow her, only to have a voice stop him.

“What’s with all the cloak and dagger?” Lance asked, smiling lightly. Keith turned towards Lance, who was standing from the table.

“Lance, I gotta go on a mission, so training will have to wait until tonight, or, whenever,” Keith informed him and turned on his heel to leave.

“What? What mission? Just you?” Lance called after him. He heard Lance’s footsteps walking quickly up to him and turned around to face him again with an impatient sigh. Lance’s expression was best described as skeptical, if Keith felt like ignoring nuances and undertones, which he did. He did not have time to analyze exactly what was going on in that headspace.

“No, Pidge is going too. It’s a scouting mission. Sounds pretty clear-cut,” Keith said, shuffling backwards toward the sliding door slowly. Lance followed him.

“Pidge?” Lance said in a loud, insolent tone. Keith raised an eyebrow and frowned, itching to get to his armor and his Lion. “Why would Allura send Pidge? I don’t think this sounds like a good idea.” Lance’s tone was bordering on a whine and Keith lost his patience.

“It doesn’t _matter_ what you think, Lance! It’s what Allura _ordered_! She wants who’s best for the mission and you’re not it!” Keith said in a rushed sentence. He couldn’t wait for a response and walked through the door. He left Lance halted and silent on the other side and made his way to his hangar.

 

\--------

“Alright, Pidge, Keith, you’re in the planet’s atmosphere. Keep us updated,” Allura said over their comms.

“If you need us down there, just say the word. We’re all ready,” Shiro’s voice came in.

“Cloaking now,” Pidge said.

“Roger,” Keith said as he descended through a haze that seemed more like smog than clouds.

“Whoa,” he heard Pidge exclaim under their breath. Then he saw it. The surface of the planet was completely devoid of life. No gardens, no bodies of water. A dry husk.

“Um, Allura, are you sure you sent us to the right planet?” Keith asked after a few seconds of stunned silence.

“What? Of course!----do you as---” Keith blinked. It was Allura’s voice but it was being interrupted.

“Allura, please repeat,” Keith said.

“---id y----e? Pi-------th? Ple------d” He heard small bits of her words in between static.

“This again?” He heard Pidge clearly enough.

“Great. Well at least we can hear each other. I guess this must be the right planet, because I can see the beacon pinging,” Keith spoke, watching a red dot on his blue screen blipping in and out.

“We’ll be on it soon. I’d say to keep it low, but there’s nothing to really blend in with. What the heck could have caused this much devastation in a short time? How do the Galra even have power to do this?” Keith heard a hint of fear in Pidge’s voice, but couldn’t think of anything to say that would be very comforting.

“That’s why we’re gonna stop Zarkon and---wait, Pidge, are you at the beacon point?” Keith said, slowing his Lion as he nearly flew over it. From where he was he could clearly see what appeared to be an abandoned campsite. It would have had to set up after the planet had been destroyed.

“I was just about to go down and disable the signal. Whoever was here, it looks like they’re long gone now,” Pidge said.

“Stop,” Keith said, feeling his arms prickle with a strange sensation. “This isn’t right. Get away from the site, I’m just going to torch it.”

“What? Why? What if someone comes back?” Pidge said, obeying his order and pulling up from the surface of the planet.

“This reeks of a trap and I’m not letting us fall into it,” Keith said before tapping some buttons on a screen and thrusting a control forward, spraying the Red Lion’s molten lava down at the site. After a few seconds, the pinging stopped.

“Shit! Keith!” Pidge said. The Green Lion roared an alert and the Red Lion responded, showing Keith what Pidge was seeing. A wave of pure electricity coming straight for them.

“Ascend!” Keith shouted, thrusting the Red Lion’s jets at full power, pushing them up in an abrupt and shaky jolt. The Green Lion uncloaked and followed suit, barely missing whips of electricity lapping at the jet stream of blue fire pouring from the Green Lion’s feet.

“Pidge! You good?” Keith asked through heavy frantic breaths.

“Those are the same waves Lance was talking about! And this planet looks just like the one we saw the other day,” Pidge said, their brain already working on ten different theories for what had just happened while Keith was still just trying to get his bearings.

“Let’s get back to the castle and report to Allura,” Keith said, still reverberating from what he just witnessed.  
“Roger that,” Pidge said, pulling up and ahead of Keith. Keith glanced down at the planet one more time before zipping after Pidge.

 

**1 Day Earlier: Afternoon**

Allura was pacing around in a circle in the control room. She’d pause a moment, acting as if she was about to speak, then would continue her pacing.

“So you’ve never heard this kind of thing happening?” Keith asked.

“No. I mean, not in my age. I looked into it when Lance mentioned it two days ago, but found nothing in the Castle’s archives.” Allura seemed to be teeming with an impatient, paranoid energy.

“It must be what’s causing our communication issues too. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as last time with Lance. We still had full control of our Lions,” Pidge said, eyeing Lance, who was leaning against a wall close to the exit.

“I wish you hadn’t destroyed the beacon. It might have given us a clue as to what was going on. It must be connected somehow,” Allura said with a frustrated expression. It was clear she was nearing Pidge levels of disappointment at not having more information available to her.

“Leave it to Keith to blast through a situation instead of thinking of another solution,” Lance said brusquely. The lighter notes of his usual prodding were nowhere in his statement. His words were meant to be biting, and they worked.

“What?” Keith yelled sharply, turning to Lance. “You weren’t there! It was a very obvious trap. I didn’t want that thing leading anyone else to it! Plus if we had gone down to retrieve it, we would have been zapped by that...thing!” Keith was still partially keyed up on his adrenaline from the mission. His tolerance for irritants was at a remarkably low level. Even so, he still felt pricks beneath his chest at having to defend his actions to Lance.

“Well aren’t you just a hero,” Lance uttered sarcastically.

“Enough. Lance, if you don’t want to be here, there’s the door, because petty arguing isn’t helping anyone! The rest of us are trying to figure this out,” Shiro said, ending the conversation. Keith’s heart sunk watching Lance. It was like Shiro had just broken his heart. He looked crushed. When he noticed Keith watching him, his expression darkened and he pushed himself from the wall and hastily left the control room as Allura continued the discussion.

“Well I am currently at a loss of how to examine this. It seems that whatever causes these electrical waves may be causing our equipment malfunctions as well.”

“Do you think the Galra have something to do with this? They were present on the last planet…” Shiro was still talking but Keith was hardly listening. His thoughts were on the hurt expression that had fallen over Lance. Shiro was constantly on Lance’s case, with good reason usually, but Lance always perked back up after thirty seconds of sulking.

“Do you know what that was about? Why’d he leave?” Hunk had silently side-stepped his way to Keith’s side, talking in a whisper so as not to interrupt Allura’s commentary on the planet’s new lack of life. Keith shook his head, before abruptly stopping. Did he know? He thought back to their rushed conversation when he was leaving the kitchen.

“I’m not sure,” Keith quietly admitted. He looked at Hunk, who seemed more worried about this than anyone. “This isn’t like him, right?”

“He’d never leave an important discussion. He's always the one who wants to be included in team discussions,” Hunk said absently before jumping to attention when Allura posed him a question. “Um, well that really isn’t my area of expertise Allura, but it doesn’t sound impossible,” he offered to the primary group discussion. He stepped away from Keith to look at some figures on Allura’s hologram. Keith continued to divide his attention between his thoughts on Lance and the current conversation. All he wanted to do right now was seek out the Blue Paladin and comfort him.

 

\---------

No one in the Castle had enough information on their findings. Without it, there was no way to put a solid plan into action. In the end, Allura said she would look into it more, and asked Pidge to remain for some assistance in setting up systems that might scan for information while the rest of the paladins were free to go. Shiro stayed behind, of course. Shiro always stayed behind. Keith had honestly never seen him look more ragged. He wondered how much of it was their new positions as Defenders of the Universe, and how much of it was his year that remained primarily unaccounted for, aside from snippets of memory leaking in every once in awhile. Keith would probably be more worried if he wasn’t already maxed out in the sentiment because of Lance. He had slipped out of the control room while the discussion was on its last legs to find the only person he was eager to speak with at the moment.

Keith started with Lance’s room, and when he found it dark and empty, he searched the observation decks. He tried to think of all the areas of the ship Lance felt more comfortable, or where he might go to mope alone. Lance always seemed at ease, but he if he needed to feel comforted, and his friends were not around, that was something different. Suddenly it came to Keith where he would find Lance, and he made his way to the Blue Lion docking bay.

When Keith reached the bay, he expected to see Lance sitting in front of the Blue Lion, and was taken aback when he was not there. He looked around for a moment then looked up at Blue. Though it was stationary, he could hear the mechanical purring rumbling lowly.

“Hey, can I come in?” He asked it. The Lion did not move. There was no hint that it even understood Keith at all. “Listen just, let me in. I know you’re in there, Lance!” Keith said gruffly, feeling impatient and anxious. He wasn’t entirely sure why.

After another pause, the Lion lowered its mouth and Keith walked up the ramp and into the Lion. He hadn’t been in the Blue Lion since it left Earth. It was strange, being in a Lion that didn’t belong to him. The first time it was foreign and kind of exciting stepping into an alien ship. Now he felt like the alien. He felt completely thrown and uncomfortable. It was as if the Lion did not want him there. He walked to the cockpit.

“What do you want?” Lance asked curtly. He was seated in the pilot’s seat out of Keith’s view, but Keith could see his hand clutching at the armrest.

“What are you doing in here?” Keith asked, pushing aside his feelings of discomfort, trying to sound soothing, hoping to coax Lance into being honest. He put his hand on the back of the pilot seat. The Blue Lion grumbled in disapproval and Keith removed it immediately. “Uh..” Keith furrowed his brows, looking around the cockpit.

“I thought I’d hang out with the only one on this ship that actually thinks I should be here,” Lance said. Had Keith not already been on edge, Lance’s tone would have done it. It was cold and bitter, two things that one usually wouldn’t use to describe him.

“What are you talking about? Everyone wants you here, Lance,” Keith said, perhaps dismissing Lance’s feelings a little too easily. But the notion that he was not wanted as a paladin seemed so far-fetched to Keith. How could Lance not know how much his presence was a boon to everyone in the Castle? To him.

“Sure. I can keep you all entertained between missions. I can sing, I can dance, I can tell jokes. Just tell me what you’re in the mood for,” Lance drawled on. His words were cutting at Keith’s nerves relentlessly. He wanted to shake this nonsense right out of him.

“Lance, where’s this coming from? I thought we already went over this. You’re an important member of this team,” Keith said, he glanced down at Lance’s hooded head. He rarely wore it up. Keith didn’t like it.

“You had me fooled,” Lance said quietly. Keith raised an eyebrow and walked around the chair to try to face Lance, but Lance refused to meet his gaze. Instead, he stared out of the eyes of the Lion. “So, what? Have you been reporting to Shiro behind my back? Or to Allura? Telling them I’m not quite hacking it?” Lance seemed to recoil further into the hood of his jacket as he spoke. His words were shaky.

“Lance, you’re sounding kind of crazy. I offered to help you because I wanted you to get better, that’s all,” Keith had kept his voice steady so far, but he had no idea how long this would keep up. He was being assaulted by his emotions on both spectrums. His heart was aching that Lance could possibly still think the worst of him, and also think so little of himself. The other part of him was angry and indignant. He knew these accusations were beneath Lance, and completely uncalled for.

“Shiro has _never_ kicked me out! So why, all of a sudden, does he think I’m so unnecessary that I don’t need to be around for a briefing of a possible enemy?” Lance finally looked up at Keith. His eyes looked black as steel in the dim light of the cockpit. It was a harsh glare that took Keith by surprise and he stepped back, almost afraid of what was behind it. Lance had glared at him before but never had he looked so...threatening.

“Lance, you walked out. He didn’t kick you out. You left!” Keith, losing his composure, sounding frantic. He wanted to defend Shiro. He wanted Lance to see logic. Maybe he should try again later when Lance was not still so riled from being disciplined.

“He would have _never_ told Hunk to leave. Or Pidge, or you! I’m the only one he didn’t think was necessary. I’m always...I’m always the dispensable one. I’m not smart enough, I’m not a good enough pilot. I trip Voltron up,” Lance paused, his breath shuddering. Keith felt his chest tighten.

“Lance...you have to stop thinking like that. Blue chose you. You’re its pilot! If you keep beating yourself up like this over stupid things you’re just going to spiral out. Believe me, I’ve been there,” Keith said. A memory flashed through his mind, of when he found out about Shiro. Of his issues at the Garrison. He shut his eyes and forced the memory down.

“Believe you? Yeah right. I thought we…..” Lance trailed off and tried to lower his head even further between his shoulders.

“We what?” Keith urged, curiosity replacing his worry for a moment.

“You know what, forget about it. Just go,” Lance said.

“Lance, please, you’re being immature,” Keith said, immediately regretting his words, knowing they weren’t the right thing to say, even if he thought they were true.

“Get out!” Lance said viciously. The Blue Lion offered a low growl as further incentive, and Keith backed away from the cockpit. The second he stepped off the ramp the Lion’s mouth zipped shut. He was shut out and cut off from Lance. He struggled with the idea that he may never be let back in.

 

**15.5 Hours Earlier**

 

“Paladins, I need you up immediately. I repeat, suit up and meet me in the control room immediately!” Allura’s voice was booming through the entire ship over its broadcasting system. It was the middle of the night according to Allura’s Castle schedule. Keith had been lying awake in bed, unable to sleep a wink. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Lance’s despondent face. He had to fix things. He sucked in his breath at the sound of Allura’s voice. She sounded alarmed, and he would have to push personal matters aside for later. He jumped out of bed with his knife and ran to get suited up.

When he reached the control room, he was surprised to see Pidge and Lance already in there. Lance never beat him when called to action, and in his current mood, he was surprised Lance put in the effort at all. Maybe he had been awake too. Keith stood in the doorway and Lance glanced at him coolly before turning his attention back to Shiro and Allura--who were already discussing amongst themselves a plan of action. Neither of them had even been to bed, that much was apparent. Keith stepped forward right before Hunk ran full force into his back, nearly knocking him to his knees.

“Sorry!” Hunk said, pulling Keith back.

“You’re all here. Good! I’ve received another distress signal!”

“You had to wake us for that?” Hunk said with a yawn into his hand. He then wiped the sleep from the corner of his eyes.

“It isn’t just any distress signal. It’s one we’ve heard before,” Allura informed them. Her eyes were fixed in a serious stare as she relayed the information.

“So someone got in trouble with the Galra after we already helped them? Is it the Arusians?” Lance asked. Keith made a mental note of how seriously Lance was taking this talk. There was no hint of lightness on his face. Just a fixed glower.

“No. The last time we received this signal was just yesterday,” Allura paused, making sure everyone was paying attention. Allura had a tendency to pause a lot; and with a group of teens, it was likely out of necessity.

“But Keith melted it,” Pidge said flatly.

Allura shook her head. “I realized why it gave me a funny feeling yesterday, and that was because it was the same signal as the one we heard three days ago. When Lance witnessed the first electrical wave.”

“So, what? It’s like baiting ships and...electrocuting them?” Lance asked before anyone else could comment. Keith wondered if he was trying to prove his worth, or making up for walking out before.

“I can’t say I know their motive, but yes, I definitely think they’re using these beacons as bait.”

“We’ve already ruined their plans twice, it’s possible this time they’re planning a more direct attack once we arrive. But that’s why we’ll meet them head-on with Voltron,” Shiro informed the crew.

“But if we don’t know what they are planning, or even how they’re using electricity the way they are, shouldn’t we play it safe and not meet them head on until we know more?” Hunk interjected, clearly not behind this idea.

“Don’t worry so much, Hunk. We’ve beaten everything else the Galra have been throwing at us. Besides, we need to stop them before they do this to another planet. I doubt they take the life on these planets into consideration with their plans.” Those words seemed to convince Hunk. He nodded and his face melted into its usual resolve at the prospect of helping others.

“Alright Paladins, get to your Lions. Form Voltron and I’ll ready a wormhole!” Allura ordered. The team all offered enthusiastic affirmatives before leaving the control room to their hangars.

“Hey, Lance,” Keith heard himself saying before he could stop himself. They dropped behind the rest of the crew.

“Before you say anything about earlier, just chock it up to teen angst and forget about it, okay?” Lance grinned, but it was sharp and Keith didn’t recognize it. His eyes had not returned to their usual warmth. They were still steely and distant.

Keith shook his head. “No, Lance. I know there was more to it than that!”

“You don’t know anything about me, Keith,” Lance’s words cut through Keith. “Get to your Lion.” He wanted to shout at Lance, tell him he was wrong, but what if he wasn’t? They had gotten closer in the past few days, he thought. But it didn’t mean they were best friends now. It didn’t mean he knew anything about him. It didn’t mean anything.

“ _Guys_! Why aren’t you at your Lions? Get it together!” They could each hear Shiro shouting through their helmets, despite them being tucked under their arms.

“See,” Lance said before putting his helmet on and turning away to his hangar.

“Sorry, Shiro. I’ll be there in five seconds. Maybe five ticks,” Lance said, forcing a snarky laugh. Keith said nothing, silently running to his Lion, feeling like he had just lost something important.


	11. The Disconnect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mood music: [M83-Wait](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAwYodrBr2Q)  
> I listened to this on repeat while writing a majority of this chapter.

\---sssttt--

\----mbulletproof, nothi-------way fire a-----

-sst-tiiccii----accc--

\---chet take y----m fiirrraway f-----------

\--ss-sscct---cciccissaat-----

\---edown bu------nt----amtitanium---

\--ss-

\--you..oh my go------ohmMY G-----ue! Blue! Se----

-sssc-

-end transmission-

 

**A Little Over 15 Hours Earlier**

 

“Alright, we all know the mission, are we all out of our hangars? Hunk? Lance?”

“Coming up on your left, Shiro,” Hunk stated.

“I’m right behind him,” Lance confirmed as he flew up to meet with the rest of the paladins just behind Hunk.

“Okay, let’s form Voltron and get through that wormhole, guys,” Shiro ordered. He received the affirmative from the rest of the paladins and the conjoining process began as the Black Lion gave off the usual rallying cry. The Red and Green Lions began shifting in unison and the Yellow Lion followed soon after. Just as the Red Lion’s socket moved into the joint of the Black Lion, Keith felt a violent jolt and the process ended, forcing his Red Lion back into its normal shape.  
“What happened?” Keith asked impatiently. He looked around his cockpit, and all systems were normal. The Voltron diagram on one of his screens looked fine, except...one of the legs was blinking red.

“Lance, what’s going on?” Shiro’s tone was stern but cautious, unsure if he should be worried or not. The other paladins were all watching the same diagram with the red light flashing angrily.

“I’m..uh. Sorry about that, guys. Blue’s having a bit of a tantrum here,” Lance replied over the comms. Keith tensed immediately upon hearing the nervous tone in Lance’s voice. It didn’t make him feel any better that he could hear a low rumble over the comms as well. Was the Blue Lion...growling?  

“Can you get it under control? Is it a mechanical error?” Shiro piloted the Black Lion over to the Blue to get an eye on it and make sure there were no visible malfunctions happening on the outside of the ship-creature-thing.

“Um, all systems are clear. There’s just a lack of cooperation. Sorry guys, I’ll take care of it,” Lance’s words were timid. Keith pursed his lips and flew around to get an eye on the Blue Lion. He knew he wouldn’t be able to see Lance’s face, which was what he wanted, but having an eye on the Lion at least gave him some semblance of comfort. The feeling died when he was filled with a rush of unpleasant waves of emotion he felt directed at him. His mind was clouded with flashes of colors, mostly reds and blacks, and the underlying noise. A growl?

The Lions were always connected. Even if the paladins had issues connecting to each other on occasion, the Lions were always communicating with each other as well as their paladins. At that moment, Red was reading something off of Blue and sending that feeling straight into Keith’s head. Keith stiffened as the back of his neck prickled.

“Lance…” Keith mumbled.

“Alright then, let’s try this again!” Shiro said with his usual gusto. The other paladins responded in kind and the process started again. Keith tried to bite back the feeling of uneasiness that the Red Lion had shared with him and to focus on the connection with the other paladins. Then it was there: that familiar sensation of connecting with the others. His Lion was moving into place again and he noticed the faintest flicker tapping at his mind. Lance? Before he could question it, it was over; Voltron was forming, successfully. Keith took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Alright!” Hunk said, echoing what the other paladins were likely feeling.

“Allura,” Shiro called to the Princess.

"Is everything alright? I overheard..." she said nervously.

"We're good, just a hiccup. Voltron is ready to go," Shiro's said, confidence resounding from him as usual.

“I’m aware. I can see you, you know,” Allura said. Keith detected that her tone hinted at a smile and rolled his eyes when Shiro spoke again.

“Um, right. So the wormhole?” Shiro practically stuttered through his statement and cleared his throat.

“Give me one...mooore...tick, and yes, alright. Good luck, Paladins, we’ll be joining you shortly,” Allura said. Without another word spoken, Voltron disappeared through the wormhole.

 

**About 15 Hours Earlier**

Allura piloted the Castle towards the wormhole when she first noticed; it was unstable. It hadn’t been when she opened it, she would have known right away. But as she moved closer she could see the edges fraying, like sparks flying off the tip of a fire.

“Coran, I’m not certain we should go through,” she said, turning to him. She looked at him with inquisitive eyes, waiting for advice. Coran pulled up a screen at his own station and pulled up a 3D digital image of the wormhole as well as its stats. He looked at a set of waves on his screen. Two were in synch but the third was jolting and jumping across his screen.

“What the quiznak is that?” He mumbled, scratching his chin.

“I can’t tell what’s causing it. But I worry sending the ship through might worsen its stability. The Castle is so large and not as maneuverable as Voltron, or the Lions,” Allura informed him. Allura’s priority was Voltron. She was not concerned about the Castle or another breach to its systems, she was concerned if anything happened to them, Voltron would be stuck in a hostile system without a plan of escape.

“Shall I get word to the Paladins?” Coran asked, not questioning her judgment in the slightest.

“I don’t see another way. I don’t want to risk closing it and having to wait for another if they need extraction.” Coran nodded and touched another screen, tapping at the keys on it.

“Hmm.” Allura knew that particular version of Coran’s involuntary “hmm” and turned, searching his expression.

“What’s the matter?” She asked gingerly, not wanting bad news.

“I’m afraid we’re going to have interference again,” he responded, eyes still focused intently on his screen.

“Again? Paladins? Paladins, do you copy?” Allura turned to her map of the system and shifted focus, attempting contact with Voltron and its paladins.

 

**15 Hours Earlier**

 

“--sdo you cop---” Keith heard over their comms. It was Allura, and Keith only then noticed that the ship hadn’t followed through the wormhole. The paladins had experienced a bumpy ride themselves and Keith had attributed it to Voltron’s mass. He hadn’t given it much thought, however, because as soon as they were on the other side, Voltron was face to face with a Galra fleet.

“Crap,” Lance had said, the sentiment resounding with the rest of the crew perfectly. They had been in an ongoing battle for mere minutes, but it felt like longer since there was no rest between taking down small fighter ships.

“---peat, the Castle can not-----the wormhole. We are stuck on this side for the time-------espond.” Allura’s voice chimed in again through the static. It was almost predictable when the static would cut off their sentences at this point.

“Again?!” Hunk said, his irritation masking his nervousness.

“Well given the past two times we’ve been drawn by the--coming up on the left--by the signals, we should have expected this interference,” Pidge said plainly, right before chopping Voltron’s shield into a line of ships.

“We can hear each other, though, right? Can you guys hear me?” Hunk said, rapid-fire questions to confirm he was not, in fact, talking to himself. Voltron spun around to face another swarm that tried to flank them and dealt with them just as swiftly.

“Yes, Hunk. We hear you, loud and clear. Maybe Voltron communicates differently while together. I haven’t had any issues on my end, except the Castle's messages. Lance, six o'clock!” Shiro warned as another team of fighters flew in from below. The entirety of Voltron jolted awkwardly out of the way, barely missing an impact with them. The fighters did a loop, coming back for another chance.

“Lance?” Shiro asked. He wasn’t given a response as Voltron bashed another line of enemies away and straight into what appeared to be a large electrical storm. It was not the only one either. As time passed on, it appeared more had popped into their vicinity, several miles away but still visible.

“Is that even possible? I don’t think that’s possible!” Hunk said, staring at the closest one.

“They’re anomalies. Or something we just haven’t seen before . Either way, we should probably steer clear of them,” Pidge responded.

“Steer clear of the sparking death clouds. Got it,” Hunk said, not a hint of humor in his tone.

“Shouldn’t we be seeing like, a cruiser or battleship or something by now? Where the heck are all these guys coming from?” Pidge asked it, but it had been on Keith’s mind as well. They had to be deploying this endless amount of fighters from somewhere, yet they hadn’t seen a single large battle class ship since the fighting began. Were they somehow hidden by the storms?

“Maybe they have a base on one of these planets?” Lance said. Keith picked up on it. His voice sounded off. Maybe he was feeling embarrassed about his recent slip-up reaction with Voltron, but his voice sounded more disinterested than timid. Keith pulled back on a control, before shooting it forward to punch an enemy away then grab another, and with Pidge, they smashed it between the hands of Voltron.

“Nice work!” Shiro praised them. There it was. That feeling of a..flicker? Pressing on Keith's mind like a forming headache. Then it was gone and Voltron was already moving toward another ten or fifteen ships.

“Who’s leading these guys? If there’s no high command, where are they getting their orders?” Keith asked, irritated and almost bored. Despite the constant onslaught of enemies, picking them apart was fairly easy for Voltron. This battle was more like a nuisance than anything.

“Hunk,” Shiro said, and with just one word, Keith could tell he felt the same way; impatient and bored. “Break out the shoulder cannon and let’s take them all down at once,” he commanded.

“On it!” Hunk said enthusiastically. Keith smirked. Even Hunk sounded kind of bored.

“We’ll take down the fighters and search the system for a larger ship or base,” Shiro ordered. The rest of the paladins agreed. The screens in Keith’s Lion switched up, showing that Hunk had placed his bayard into it’s Lion’s controls.

Before the canon could materialize, Keith heard a yelp. Lance. Keith looked down, but couldn’t see anything from his angle. He tried to bring Lance up on his screen but nothing was coming up. Voltron was lurching; then came the unpleasant sounds of metal snapping and bending. Keith felt his mind jumbled. The flickering started again, but this time, it wasn’t just for a second, it was constant and mind-numbing. The Lions roared almost in unison and seconds later Voltron split apart.

“What just happened?” Hunk was shouting as the ringing in Keith’s ears faded. The younger pilots were still trying to catch their bearings, but Keith saw that Shiro was already flying past him to use his Lion’s blades on another incoming swarm.

Keith’s heartbeat was unsteady, his body felt unfamiliar, and his mind disoriented. He realized why: the Red Lion was frantically feeding him images, information, _feelings_. There was a very distinct and obvious uneasiness among the Lions. The Red Lion continued sending short low growls to the back of Keith's mind, and he had no idea why.

“Did we get hit? Are you all okay?” Shiro asked, grunting as the Black Lion plowed head-on into a group of at least ten Galra ships. Keith regained control of his Lion and flipped it around, circling the other Lions quickly. The Red Lion gave him feedback for the Green and Yellow Lions. Shaken, surprised, but otherwise they were okay. Keith’s eyes were frantically searching his entire scope of view, looking for the only paladin that was unaccounted for. It was suddenly very clear why he and his Lion had been disoriented and frantic since Voltron’s separation.

“Lance!” Keith felt the shriek erupt from him rather than hearing himself shouting it. Below the others, he could see the Blue Lion floating in space, unmoving, sparks surrounding its tail and legs. There was Galra wreckage among him. At least he hoped that the large floating chunks of metal were from the Galra.

“Oh God! Is he okay? La----” Hunk’s voice came in, then cut off.

 _No! Not now!_ Keith thought, flying straight for the Blue Lion. His head and heart were pounding. His brain was putting the pieces together; the noises, the flickering feeling, the almost headaches, it all made sense to Keith. The Red Lion intruded again, joining in a roar with the other Lions and sending twitching feelings that snapped at the edges of Keith’s mind. It wasn’t the intrusion that had Keith worried. It was the lack of a voice--of a roar, which also happened to be the cause of the commotion. None of their Lions could communicate with Blue.

 

\-----------

 

“Hold them back I’m going d------him!” Shiro ordered the others after he had realized what was happening. He had been so caught up in keeping up with throngs of the enemy’s nonstop onslaught, that he hadn't noticed the disconnect at first.

“Right!” Pidge was the first to acknowledge the order, flying off to try and beat back a smaller group. Hunk and Keith were both hesitant until Shiro repeated the order, then they both flew off to assist Pidge.  
“Lance? Lance, if you can----------need you to respond, buddy,” Shiro spoke as the Black Lion approached the Blue. Keith attempted for all of two seconds not to be distracted by Lance’s condition and the fact that he had no idea what it was. He fought against enemies almost mechanically, trying to consistently maneuver around them to keep eyes on Shiro and Lance. It worked briefly until Pidge had to fly down to him and take a hit on the Green Lion’s shield to block the Red Lion from an incoming attack.

“Keith!” Pidge exclaimed via surly grunt.

“Sorry Pidge!” Keith replied, trying to get his head back into the battle.

“Heh, worried abou---e?” The paladins practically shouted Lance’s name in unison as his voice hit their ears. Keith was awash for relief for a moment, willfully ignoring the hoarseness in Lance’s voice. Keith was about to respond but Shiro got to it first. 

“Lance, do you need an a------” Shiro was asking over the comms. Keith heated in frustration at how much of a nuisance the static had become. He nearly collided with one of the Galra fighters that Hunk had driven into a storm with a body slam. Keith pulled up and around, trying to make his way towards the Blue Lion, fighting off any Galra that tried to get between them.

“I think I’m-----” Lance said, his voice soft, breathy.

“Repeat!” Keith yelled unintentionally, relentlessly blasting through enemies with the Red Lion’s lasers.

The Red Lion purred at him. The Blue Lion was communicating again; it was weak, it had been damaged, but it was functional. Keith sighed in relief, but continued his course to confront a group of Galra fighters that had noticed the Blue Lion had been incapacitated. Whatever his lasers did not blast through, the Red Lion tore through with its mouth and claws with no mercy. There was a straggler that Shiro immediately ripped through with the Black Lion’s blades. Keith watched as the Blue Lion’s rockets flickered back on and it flipped itself into an upright position.

“Can you f----?” Shiro asked, the Black Lion hovering around them protectively.

“Danger is my mid----ame,” Lance joked weakly.

“That didn-----my quest----” Shiro responded gruffly, though he sounded relieved to have Lance (somewhat) back to normal.

“Uh, guys. I hate to -------up, but that battles---talking abou--- coming,” Hunk said. Keith recognized the tone from Hunk. He pulled back and headed towards the Yellow Lion to confirm what he was hoping Hunk had not been saying: a large battleship was coming slowly into their sights.

 

**2 Hours Earlier**

Hunk was the one to spot Lance if one were to be technical about it. At least, that was the information he was able to relay to Pidge. The boost to their communication had worked to an extent, as long as any two Lions were in a decent range of each other. Pidge and Hunk had been assigned planets towards the most centric areas of the system where there appeared to be fewer enemies and storms. The planets in that area were also closer together so it made for easier communication between the two of them.

Unfortunately for Hunk, the planet was also swarming with Galra enemy fighter ships. Before he could even go down to investigate further, he was being chased away. Pidge, meanwhile, tried to relay the information to Shiro and Keith, though Pidge had little hope any messages would reach them. Keith and Shiro were searching on the few planets that lined the edges of the system, and between them and the central planets, there were several of the curious electrical storms, as well as several Galra enemies. Unable to wait for an order or response, Pidge cloaked and went to aid Hunk.

\-------

Keith would be bored if he wasn’t in an acute and constant state of distress and disappointment. The search had taken hours, and he had only been over two planets. He couldn’t be sure his systems were working properly so, not only was he to avoid Galra, but he also had to keep a slow and steady pace as he visually checked over the land of the planets. His only “luck” seemed to be that the planets he had been divvied were already devoid of any life. He had contact with Shiro for a little while, but when he reached the second planet, it was mostly silence, with the occasional distress recording from Lance.

Each recording only made Keith feel more impatient; more powerless. There was a total of eight at that point. Keith played them on repeat every once in awhile to try and piece together what was happening to Lance. Down the line, it sounded like wherever Lance had landed, he’d been found out, or something else had found him. Not to mention a cryptic, incomplete warning that Lance had tried to issue left Keith feeling morose and apprehensive. Or was it the static? Something about the static sounded...off, if static could sound like anything aside from white noise. There were pitch changes within it; pauses. Some underlying note that Keith couldn’t put his finger on, but that prickled at his arms each time he heard it. His thoughts were shooting out rapid-fire at the possibilities and the potential threats that Lance had been facing. Alone. His voice had been panicked in the latest recording. He was trying to fight on. Even if Keith wasn’t hearing complete sentences, he knew Lance, injured and fighting against odds, would still press on. Not because he couldn’t back down from a fight, but because he was a Paladin of Voltron, and they were supposed to take down enemies of the universe, and he was going to continue doing so until...he drew his final breath. That was a very Lance thing to do. Keith sucked in his breath at the thought of the less pleasant outcomes of that sort of battle.

But, the Red Lion rumbled at him; a low mechanical growl. Keith dialed in quickly to pick up whatever he could. First, it gave him Pidge’s status: cloaked, okay, but on their way to battle to….help Hunk. Hunk was fighting off a handful on his own. Keith shifted controls quickly, ready to fly to wherever they were to aid them, but his Lion purred, reassuring him they were fine. Shiro had already received the same feedback and was on his way. The Red Lion was more interested in passing along other information. Suddenly a faint beeping showed up on one of his monitors.

“What _is_ that?” Keith asked. There was nothing visible on the screen, just the very faint sound of a beep echoing through the cockpit. It sounded like a heart monitor and Keith shuddered, hoping that wasn’t supposed to be Lance’s heartbeat that was going so slowly. The Red Lion urged him to follow the signal. “We’re not done here,” Keith said aloud, quickly feeling embarrassed when he realized speaking aloud was unnecessary. But then another feeling crept over him courtesy of the Red Lion. He realized they were done because he realized what the beeping was. Keith was given one final blurred idea relayed straight from the Yellow Lion’s vision before Hunk had been chased away. A blue speck. Not another second passed before Keith nearly broke his control to shift direction and have the Red Lion take him towards the signal at top speed. Keith was feeling real hope for the first time all day.

Then another recording came in. The noise was almost unbearable at that point. The static was driving Keith crazy. He was already on his way to pick Lance up, there was no need to listen anymore. His finger was millimeters from the off switch when he heard the words “losing a lot of blood”. The blood in his own veins ran cold at the statement. Keith gently shook his head. He would find him in time. He would---his own thoughts were interrupted by another set of words that numbed him. “If I die…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if this chapter is awkward or bad, I have no experience writing space battles, d'oh!  
> Also, the song Lance is singing is Titanium (by David Guetta ft Sia) :O


	12. You are Not Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A. Mood Music- [Kari Sigurdsson-Alive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT5DpbvobxI&list=PLo3rMZURLg4Gs-4UL0Q9duLAWRas76_0f&index=1)  
> and  
> B. This is where it starts getting a little gory, just to warn you guys.

**15 Minutes Earlier**

 

“Hunk, you _animal_!” Pidge shouted victoriously, a laugh following the statement. Hunk and Shiro’s laughter both followed, though it was obvious they shared it in relief more than anything.

“I do what I can!” Hunk flew his Lion up to Pidge’s and they ceremoniously clanged the tails of the Lions together as they had been practicing. The fight with the Galra had led them two planets away, though it had not been Hunk’s idea. He had tried several times to bring the fight back to them, but they continued fishing him away from the planet. It was a very long, dull game of cat and...something that irritates a cat. It was only when Pidge caught up with Hunk and his enemies that Hunk could finally use their numbers to his advantage and force a confrontation. By the time Shiro had reached the both of them--after dealing with a few enemies along the way--Pidge and Hunk (mostly Hunk) had already taken down the pursuants.

“Good work, guys! Now let’s just hope they didn’t report back to anyone before we---before _Hunk_ \--- took them down.” Shiro said. There was a lightness in the tones of his present crew, and the reason behind it was obvious: their team was about to be complete again, very soon. “Now let’s go get--” Shiro began, being cut off by a static-ridden, though comprehensible, message from Allura.

“Attention, Paladins of Voltron!” They heard the crackling static beneath each word she spoke. “This is Princess Allura. You _must_ return to the Castle immediately! We are at the agreed upon coordinates!”

“Allura, we know where Lance is! We can bring him back!” Hunk shared, happily. “We have his coordinates! I can send them through and---” Allura cut him off.

“Paladins, you are not safe. I repeat, you are not safe!”

“Allura we technically haven’t been safe this entire time. If you’re worried about the Galra, we--”

“Paladins, _please_ listen. You are _not_ safe. And I fear Lance may only be bait, at the moment. Please return immediately, I will explain everything!”

“We’re not leaving Lance out here!” Hunk shouted angrily, which was a rare display from him when directed at the Princess.

“Allura,” Shiro said, his voice was hesitant. He didn’t want to disagree with the Princess, but he couldn’t see how they could even consider leaving Lance down there for any longer.

“Please, Shiro. Trust me,” Allura pleaded. She sounded terrified.

“Okay,” Shiro agreed reluctantly. “Keith? Keith? Did you get any of that? Keith, do you copy? Where are you?” The last they had heard from him, he was still searching the outer planets, but Shiro’s Lion was telling a different story. The Red Lion was close by. There was a light static over their lines. It sounded like he had heard and was waiting to reply. Suddenly his voice came through their helmets.  
“With all due respect, you’re all insane if you think I’m going to leave Lance alone out here for another second. I’m almost to him. Bait or not, I’m going in.”

“Keith!” Shiro shouted into the comms.

“Please, Keith! Rethink what you’re doing!” Allura pleaded.

“I’m bringing him back,” Keith said coolly over their comms. Then his line cut out. He had disconnected from them.

“This...is bad, right?” Hunk asked morosely.

“Paladins, you’re out of time. Return now.” The paladins knew, from experience, from Allura’s voice that she was reaching maximum levels of anxiety.

“On our way,” Shiro said, sounding crestfallen. It was a tone the others had never heard from him, almost unrecognizable. Shiro piloted the Black Lion towards the meeting point and the two remaining Lions followed.

 

\--------

 

Keith’s heart was racing. In part, because he had never really disobeyed Shiro before, and he _knew_ the man was disappointed in him. That was a feeling he never liked weighing down on him. But he could bear the thought of it because he could see the Blue Lion clearly. The damage was impossible to see from the distance, as the Lion had bubbled itself. As they came closer to the surface of the planet, Keith noticed that though they were in a desert, there was plenty of plant life around. This planet hadn’t been taken by the Galra, not yet.

He had heard another transmission from Lance just moments before Allura’s orders came in. He still sounded rough, but he was alive. “Find me soon, guys” had been his final words, and they had sealed his decision on disobeying direct orders. Lance needed them, and Keith didn’t intend to make him wait a second longer.

 

**5 minutes Earlier**

The Red Lion rumbled around him and Keith had been ignoring it on purpose. They were still missing a connection from the Blue Lion, and as they got closer to the surface of the planet, they could see that, within its protective barrier, it was practically buried in the mountain on its side. It must have crash-landed that way. Keith’s heart was a hammer in his chest. His Lion roared cautiously, seeking a response from the damaged Lion. Keith could hear nothing as they neared a clear landing spot. If the Blue Lion had responded, Red was not letting him know.

It didn’t matter anyway; Keith couldn’t hear anything over the pounding in his chest as his Lion touched down. He made a quick note of one of the screens that said the air was breathable and he was out of his seat and running out before the dust had stopped kicking up beneath them.

They hadn’t been able to land as close as Keith would have liked. The angle of the Blue Lion and its placement within the mountainside and the local flora were patterned in a way that made it difficult to get close to them.

Keith ran. His brain sent him only one signal, on repeat: Reach Lance, now! The land before him blurred in browns and greens as his legs carried him at top speed to the...wreckage.

His eyes remained focused on the blue orb that was maybe one hundred yards away, maybe more. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t stopping. His Red Lion roared behind him, encouraging his steps. A little over halfway there and he knew his pulse was probably faster than normal, and his lungs were not doing much better, begging him to stop. Keith ignored the pains and tried to steady his breathing. He may have been known for being good at a lot of things, but running distances wasn’t one of them. It wasn’t something he did often if he could help it. The only time he ran voluntarily was as part of his warm-ups for training. But he certainly regretted it now when he needed that extra push. He thought back to his warm-up "races" with Lance. Lance was a great runner. Lance.

Keith used the rockets in his armor to lift him up the mountain rocks. The Blue Lion was not at the region's ground level as he had believed when flying above it. He could see the broken edges of stones that surrounded the orb and realized it was lying in a Lion-sized crater. Keith swallowed hard at the thought of what kind of landing the Lion must have had to create a crater in the base of a mountain. Keith’s landing was less than elegant. His rockets boosted him into the edge of the barrier and smashed him lightly before he could stop the power and drop to his feet. Lance would’ve loved to see that.

“Lance!” Keith shouted. His voice echoed off the rocks and into the mostly empty desert plains below. He pressed lightly into the barrier. “Lance! Open up!” He shouted again, this time banging on the edge of the barrier. He continued pounding his fists into it, desperate and angry. He was so close. “Blue! Open up! Let me in!” He screamed. His voice trembled. And for a second, the thought invaded him. Lance could be dead inside. If he was, who would be able to open the barrier again? Would Lance’s body remain entombed in the Blue Lion until it was ready to decide who could replace him? Keith felt his breathing pick up. He was starting to panic. He leaned his head against the barrier, closing his eyes, trying to steady his breathing. For a minute, he watched as his breaths slowed, coming out against the barrier in the faintest doppler waves.

“Please, let me in. I want to help him. _I can help him_ ,” Keith said quietly into the barrier. His response was a resonant clanging of metal, muffled by the barrier, but just audible. Was that the Blue Lion making that sound? He heard it again, screeching, bending metallic noises on the other side. Keith’s eyes widened, realizing just how bad a condition the Lion was in if that was its attempt at communication. Keith was about to knock again, but the barrier flickered before disappearing entirely.

 

\--------

 

His steps were furtive, slightly hesitant. When the barrier had disappeared a wave of acrid air hit him in the face before mixing with the air of the planet and scattering on the light wind. Once he was a yard or so closer to the Blue Lion, the barrier flickered on again. Keith was pretty sure it wasn’t supposed to do that, but let it go since he was too preoccupied with the condition of the Lion. Its limbs seemed intact from the angle he was looking at them, but there were exposed wires and tubing everywhere. Gashes in the metal and missing patches of blue where Keith knew there had been blue before they left for this mission. His heart rate was speeding up again.

“Lance!” He shouted. His voice sounded a pitch higher than normal, and the echo that bounced off the barrier sounded mechanical. Keith held his breath.

“Keith?” Keith’s chest and face burned with the heat flooding them. He quickly wiped at a tear that had escaped his eye. The answer was faint and Lance’s voice sounded reedy, but he was still kicking.

“I’m coming, Lance!” Keith shouted, already using his boosters to finesse his way into Lion that laid immobile on its side. The smell was worse once he reached the interior, as was the damage. Smells of burnt plastic and copper filled his nose and he looked at the metal panels and sparking wires that were strewn across the entrance. He threw any objects that blocked him out of his way. Immovable beams and rafters had fallen from every which way, but he was able to crawl through the worst of it. He threw a few more panels out of his way before finding a workable pathway to the cockpit and stepped down, running awkwardly, practically bouncing off of walls--or the floor, as he reached it.

He couldn’t stop coughing. The metallic, coppery smell of blood filled his nostrils; it burned and tempted his gag reflex. It wasn’t just the blood, it smelled rotten. Vomit and sweat, and who knows what else were mixed in it. It smelled like death. Keith’s lips quivered at the idea of Lance having to wait in this smell the entire time. Keith glanced around the cockpit, trying to place where he was exactly since everything was turned on its side. More wires hung out of panels that were barely held up by screws or other wires. A few panels blocked his full scope of the room, but he could see that one of the window panes that made up the Blue Lion’s eyes was heavily cracked. Keith inhaled sharply, never considering them to be remotely breakable, for some reason.

“Lance?” Keith’s voice was on the verge of fragility, breaking up between consonants. He looked around in the sideways cockpit; in the possible areas Lance could be. He was starting to wonder if Lance was even in there when he heard shifting noises. The clacking of Lance’s armor against metal, or his boot dragging against something, maybe. Keith’s heart was _vibrating_ beneath his ribs as he tried to make his way to the direction he thought he heard the sounds. His limbs felt foreign and numb. His entire body felt like jelly.

“Lance?” Keith asked tentatively. More shifting sounds followed by a groan was his reply. Keith attempted a run, but there was no room and the ground was not exactly free of obstacles, seeing how the actual floor was currently to the left of him. He was walking across cabinets and what remained of the wall paneling of the Blue Lion; walking as fast as he could before reaching a final metal plate. He used all his strength to pull it from where it had been lodged and nearly fell back with it when he freed it. Keith tossed it aside quickly because he could see the boots of the Blue Paladin sticking out from behind a beam.

“Lance!” He shouted, practically crawling in between the wall and damaged equipment before finally reaching him.

 

\--------

 

Relief was not the word he would have used. Relief would have been if Lance had been sitting there, worse for wear, but smiling his stupid grin, waiting expectantly for rescue. Relief would have been Lance, free of any major injuries, mostly just afraid and bored from waiting for so long. Relief would have been Lance’s eyes lighting up at seeing Keith (or anyone who happened to find him) and laughing, relieved to be reunited with the paladins again.

Instead, he was met with a mixture of respite and horror, because finding Lance alive had been his goal all along, but seeing him in his current condition caused his heart to sink to depths he didn’t realize were possible. He wasn’t exactly sitting. He was leaning on something that propped him up into an almost seated position.The whites of his armor were smeared in blood. Even in the darkened cockpit, with its red emergency lights blaring over them, he could see the wetness of the blood soaked into his black suit beneath. Keith could see smears of blood surrounding him as well, as though he tried to move at some point. One of his legs looked...entirely wrong. His eyes were shut, but Keith saw the lashes fluttering as if he was trying to open them. Keith was breathing too hard again. He wanted to be composed when he found Lance, but his body and mind were working against him when confronted with the extent of his injuries. He fell to his knees beside Lance’s torso.

“I’m here,” Keith said warmly, fighting his urge to touch Lance at all, desperate to offer him comfort; possibly to give himself a pretense of it as well. He wasn’t willing to cross that line until he knew the extent of his injuries. Lance’s eyes fluttered open into slits. Their usual brightness had long dimmed to a bleary, glazed over stare. A smile slowly formed on his lips.

“Heh. I’m surprised it took you this long,” he said, not really looking at Keith, merely in his general direction. Keith cried out a sharp laugh, squinting his eyes to fight the hot tears that were hell bent on coming out. He screwed up his courage and gently grabbed one of Lance’s hands.

“Well, I wasn’t jumping at the chance to rescue you!” Keith said, wiping his wet nose with the back of his free hand. Lance’s hand squeezed his hand weakly. He coughed out a failed attempt at laughing, and Keith saw a few droplets of blood fall on his lips. He hoped his hand was not trembling or twitching.

Lance’s smile returned to his lips after a moment and he lightly shook his head. “Liar,” Lance spoke. His voice was wet, and Keith knew it wasn’t a good sign. “..couldn’t wait to rescue me and show off, huh?” Lance’s smile was off, piercing at Keith’s nerves. It was as if he someone was wearing a Lance smiling mask. It was all for show. Keith let go of his hand and rested it gently on the ground beside him.

“You know me,” Keith said absently, shifting gears. He needed to focus on helping. He began looking Lance over immediately. There was a tear in the suit at his waist, his belt had been tossed off, as had some of his leg armor. Keith realized Lance had made an attempt to bandage himself, but the bandages were soaked through with his blood. Keith grimaced.

“How long ago did you wrap these?” Keith asked, looking at the work. The bandages were carefully applied, but Lance must have moved his wounds to get a bleed through like this.

“Well the first time, was, um, what day is it?” Lance said. His lids lowered over his dark eyes.

“It’s been about 14 hours, give or take, since we...lost you,” Keith said, still looking over Lance’s body to make sure there were no injuries he missed. He scooted down on his knees towards Lance’s legs and that’s when he noticed. His breath hitched in shock and discomfort. Lance’s leg right leg was definitely broken, and the bone was showing through. He sucked his breath in with a hiss.

“Well then, I got these,” Lance gestured towards his stomach with the hand that Keith had let go, “when I crashed here the first time, and they weren’t too bad. But then they opened up again when I crashed the second time. They’re not as...bad...as they….look.”

“Do you have any broken bones aside from your leg,” Keith looked at his right arm, which had been drooped down on the ground since he found him.

“No, but I’m pretty sure I’m bleeding internally, so there’s that,” Lance said, another cough, more blood splattered on his lip and chin. Keith moved his hands to the stomach.

“Sorry,” he said before placing his hands as gently as he could against Lance’s stomach and sides. Lance only flinched slightly, but his breath hitched and he let out a soft groan.

“Hey, no fair. I’m ticklish,” he breathed out, an obvious cover up for his real reason for flinching. Keith, in spite of everything, felt a small smile creep up on him. Once again, tears tried to force themselves from his eyes and his smile dropped.

“I don’t feel any swelling. That’s good. Listen, I need to get you to the Red Lion. We need to get your leg set and then get you to the Castle and into a healing pod as soon as possible,” Keith told him. He was wondering how he’d even get him out of here with his leg (and everything) as bad as it was. Lance’s hand moved up and gripped Keith’s wrist tighter than he would assume possible in his weakened condition.

“I’m not leaving Blue,” his tone was dark, serious, desperate. His eyes were staring into him, but there wasn’t a hint of Lance’s personality behind them. It made Keith fearful of what Lance had been facing this entire time, alone on this planet with no one but the Blue Lion as his company.

“We’re not going anywhere without Blue, Lance. I promise. But I can’t help you in here. It’s dark and..a mess. I need to get you into the Red Lion and--” Keith stopped when the grip on his wrist tightened again.

“Did you put your barrier up? Is Red’s barrier up? Keith?” His voice was frantic and his eyes were darting wildly towards the panes of glass as if he could see something coming.

“What? Of course. Lance, you know I never leave my Lion without its barrier when we’re not in the Castle,” Keith said, a feeling of indignation momentarily replacing the hundreds of other emotions that had been bombarding him since he found Lance. At that answer, Lance let go of Keith’s arm, and he seemed to relax in place. “Why are you so concerned, anyway?” He asked as Lance’s eyes looked at him, still hazy, but apparently focused on his face this time around.

“They’re not Galra, Keith,” Lance said cryptically. Keith grimaced, staring down, wondering how much blood Lance had lost exactly.

“Who isn’t?”

“The enemy. It hasn’t been the Galra this whole...time,” Lance said, his words trailing off a bit. Keith suddenly remembered the severity of their situation and was once again perplexed on how he would get Lance out of here and into his Lion.

“They’re Galra, Lance. All I’ve seen since we’ve been to this stupid system are Galra ships and fighters,” Keith said, feeling the need to be contrary rising in him. He wanted to beat it back. It was definitely not at all close to a time when it was okay to fight with Lance.

“Keith, I know you think I’m crazy...I mean...I have...lost a lot of blood. I’m light-headed, I’m...but listen. They’re using wrecked ships. Or...repurposed. It’s not the Galra.” Keith knew Lance well enough to know the difference between the degrees of his stubbornness. Sometimes it was for fun, or to rile someone (usually Keith) but other times it was because he was following his instinct or his convictions, and could not be deterred. And the tone he just used was for the latter.

“How do you know this?” Keith’s curiosity peaked for a moment, before looking around the ship for parts he might be able to use for a splint.

“Because I caught some,” Lance’s voice was barely above a whisper, and Keith turned to him to see a smile curving on his lips. Mere seconds had passed before Keith heard crackling, and the eyes of both paladins focused out of the glass and Keith watched as a wave of electricity washed over the barrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to add an extra thanks for all the comments and kudos and subscriptions and bookmarks and everything! 
> 
> I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this. You've made me feel like trying to write again wasn't the worst idea I've ever had, and I just really appreciate all your feedback and kindness! Thanks so so much! :)


	13. Sorry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, as a warning, there is gore in regards to injuries. So if you're sensitive, please be aware! Also possibly some emotional trauma.
> 
> (Also this is a very long chapter!)

The force at which Hunk removed his helmet should have pulled his ears off right along with it, but he didn’t flinch. He was practically stomping to the control room, his eyes filled with an unfamiliar anger. Sure, Hunk got angry, but it wasn’t usual and it generally never manifested itself into any kind of aggressive behavior; but at that exact moment, he was vibrating with it. Pidge was following a few feet behind him silently, not exactly sure how to approach him at the moment. This was the first time Pidge had witnessed Hunk in such a state and it was obvious why.

Pidge remained composed but felt it too. They were angry. No: upset. No: distraught. Having to leave Lance when they were so close to reaching him felt out of line. They couldn’t think up a reason good enough. Danger was the point of the mission taking so long to put together in the first place, so what could have possibly been too dangerous that they had to be pulled back? Pidge’s fists were clenched tightly when the two of them entered the control room.

It looked like Shiro had just arrived seconds before they had and was already interrogating Allura heavily as to why he had to leave Lance and Keith out there alone when they were so close to having them safely within the Castle again.

“Shiro, we don’t like it any more than you do, but you need to remain calm,” Coran was threatening, shifting his body in between Shiro and Allura. Pidge rolled her eyes. As if Shiro would ever do anything to hurt the princess. Then again, it wasn’t like Coran could control his protectiveness over Allura.

“Coran, it’s fine. Please get to work right away so we can get on with the new plan,” Allura said, rushing him out of the room. Coran eyed Shiro over once more, then nodded and obeyed the orders given to him. “Shiro, Paladins, I know you’re upset. It was an awful decision to make, but I had to. We do not have a lot of time. Lance is in grave danger, and now, so is Keith, thanks to his willful behavior,” Allura said, clearly admonishing said behavior.

“Hey, you’re lucky the rest of us aren’t down there with him. He’s the only one of us who did the right thing if you ask me!” Pidge said gruffly. Shiro raised an eyebrow, but wasn’t really surprised by Pidge’s outburst; she’d never held her tongue with Allura before and Pidge was not about to start right now. Pidge had held herself together more than anyone since the separation from Lance, but there was a limit and it had been reached. Pidge wanted their friend back, screw the Lions and the paladins; Lance was who mattered.

“I’m sorry, Pidge. I didn’t mean….” Allura paused, obviously regretful of her words, but she breathed in and straightened her posture and picked herself up again.

“You were all in danger, and I couldn’t explain before because our communications had been compromised.” The paladins looked at each other, then back to Allura. “I didn’t realize it at first, but the more of the messages we received from Lance, the clearer it became. Listen,” Allura stopped and pressed a button on one of the many hologram screens surrounding her. Pidge listened impatiently. Hunk looked utterly distraught at having to listen to Lance’s voice become weaker; listening to the fear he was trying to hide that Hunk recognized immediately. Pidge put a hand on his shoulder, grimacing towards Allura. But then Pidge heard something strange. The static was...wrong?

“What’s that?” Pidge asked, using the opportunity to block the sounds of Lance talking about death.

“Lance’s message was not the only one we were receiving,” Allura said. She ended the recording.

“What was it? What I heard was just static and Lance,” Shiro admitted.

“It wasn’t..static?” Hunk asked, eyes wide with a renewed fear.

“It was a language. And one that died out several millennia before I was even born. So we thought,” Allura explained.

“What?” Shiro asked, not exactly picking up on what the others were.

“The static wasn’t static, it was some kind of language or code? Do we know how to translate? A cipher?” Pidge asked, ready to do whatever it is Allura expected so they could get their friends back.

“Unfortunately, no. We might be able to use age-old texts in the archives, but it would likely take days; if there are even translations available. Based on Lance’s last recordings, I doubt we have that kind of time. It belonged to an ancient power. I hesitate to call it a race, as I feel they were created; though Altea had no information on who could have brought these..things into the world. They share unique traits, similar to the Lions and to the Castle, but the source of power is different entirely.” Allura continued her explanation and brought up images from the archives onto her screens. The team looked at what appeared to be a millipede, except definitely not a millipede. Definitely too sharp to be a millipede; also too mechanical. Other images flashed up on other screens. Lightning clouds, similar to what they had seen earlier. The last images were of hollowed out planets.

“They feed on metals similar to how the Castle is energized and fueled by crystals. But our crystals come from Balmera, as you know, which gives them the unique quality of working within the most inexplicable aspects of our ship. The “magic”. However, these creatures, Vereltet, as they were called, strip planets of inorganic materials and practically hollowing them out. As we’ve seen. It is very similar to Galra practices involving mining all resources from planets.”

“How would that affect organic life so quickly? I mean that planet we saw the other day was dead and dry, but, what, like two weeks ago it was lush and full of plant and some animal life!” Pidge interjected, completely thrown by this new information. Pidge was always willing to adapt to new information, as unbelievable as it may be, but sometimes it was a stretch. Although if you asked Pidge if alien life existed a year ago, there wouldn’t have been a definitive response. Pidge was merely among the many that wanted to believe.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a definitive answer for that, Pidge. As far as Altean research goes, they believed there was some degradation in their saliva or, I suppose, lubricant? The notes become a little fuzzy. They’re over 12000 years old after all.”

“Well this has been a great history lesson, but how did you only just now figure out what they were? I thought you looked into the electrical waves days ago. And how do we stop them?” Hunk tried not to sound agitated but knew he was failing miserably. He was in a major rush, after all.

“I’m sorry, Hunk. I just didn’t make the connection. The Vereltet were thought to be extinct long before my time, and the information passed down was hardly a well-known fact. In Altean school we were taught of the war and destruction of the Vereltet, but going into further detail was saved for very specific scholars. It is not information I had readily available in my memory.” Allura hesitated, as if stopping herself from saying something else, then continued. “And to answer your other question: unfortunately I only know of one way to stop them...and it’s incredibly risky. Coran is working on it right now. It involves a very finely tuned electromagnetic pulse.”

“If the Alteans thought they were extinct then they obviously led a huge expedition to eradicate them, right? Did they miss something? Why did these things wait until 12,000 years later to suddenly pop up and start destroying planets again?” Pidge could not let it rest. An extinct race reappearing was as improbable as the concept of Jurassic Park.

“We don’t know, Pidge. The creatures...machines...things, they’re immune to high heat temperatures. They’ve a weakness to cold. Perhaps they went unnoticed trapped in ice...somewhere. I can’t say for certain.”

“If they’re weak to cold, how are they traveling in space?” Pidge posed another question, and could hear Hunk’s impatient exhale.

“The storms,” Shiro spoke up, catching up to the conversation.

“Exactly so. They create the clouds and lightning by traveling rapidly in their swarms. Any ships unfortunate enough to run into them will either be consumed or controlled, which offers them energy or a way to travel away from the swarm,” Allura stated.

“Wait. Controlled? You didn’t say anything about being controlled!” Pidge nearly shouted.

“Oh. Forgive me! Right, that’s how they convinced us that we were fighting the Galra all along. They have a power over mechanical vessels. This is just another reason why they’re so dangerous and must be stopped at all costs.”

“Allura, we’ve been fighting against them this entire time. What if the Lions are..infected?” Shiro asked, voice on edge suddenly. If the Lions were infected, could the castle be infected by proxy.

“The Lions, and the Castle...are safe from the control. It’s built into the Altean technology. You would only have been in danger of consumption if you had been drawn into the clouds. Which is why I pulled you back. With the Vereltet listening in on your communication, they could align these storms to their advantage and swallow the lions into them. The Lion’s barriers protects against the electricity, but they leave you defenseless in battle. I had to pull you out before we risked the possibility.”

“Okay. Okay we need to talk about the new plan now. The plan to stop them? We have a plan right? Because Lance and Keith are still out there, and they don’t know any of this, and if their Lions get sucked into one of those death storms...” Hunk’s words died in his throat. He finally couldn’t take anymore talking. He was practically twitching. He wanted to get back to that planet. Allura stared at him for a moment. She could read how terrified he was for his friends. Frankly, Coran could probably see it and he wasn't even in the room. Allura quickly walked to him and pulled him into a warm hug.

“Hunk, I’m so sorry. I know it was likely the hardest thing to leave Lance out there. Please believe me when I say I know what that’s like. I’m truly sorry to force that upon you. On all of you,” Allura’s voice faltered, cracking at the seams with emotion she had been forcing down for so long. Her crown felt particularly heavy at that moment. Hunk’s eyes welled up. He lifted his arms and squeezed her for a moment before he sniffed and stepped back. Allura wiped at a tear forming in one of her eyes and gently touched Hunk’s cheek, a gesture of reassurance.

“We’re going to get him back, Hunk. Keith as well.” She paused and turned to her screens again. Her lips shaped in a small “oh” and blew out air and ragged emotions, then inhaled her usual air of confidence. “And this is how we’re going to do it,” she said, pulling up what appeared to be a blueprint of a mechanism that was installed into the castle.

 

\--------

“Has that been happening a lot? What do you mean you caught them? Lance...” Keith stopped himself, reluctant to dismiss Lance’s words so readily again. 

“Listen,” Lance said with a grunt as he attempted to shift and failed, “I get it. I’d think I was suffering from delusions due to blood loss too. But I have proof. I think. But it’s outside.”

“Which brings me to my first question. How often do those..waves come by?” Keith stood to look out the window, but their view was limited and the wave was not within their scope of vision.

“I can’t say. Maybe every other hour or so? It looks...it looks like,” Lance said, nodding off for a moment. Keith knelt down again, forgetting about the waves momentarily.

“We have to get you to the Red Lion. I need to set your leg. Where’s your first aid?” Keith looked around to the compartments but wasn’t sure where anything was while the Lion was at this strange angle.  

“Underneath..something..heavy,” Lance choked out a laugh, his eyes fluttering beneath their lids. Keith let a frustrated sigh escape him. His impatience was rearing its head. He looked to Lance and could see that his complexion looked worse by the minute. Honestly at that point, Keith could not say if his perception was based in reality or biased by his dread. He decided he had to stop as much of the blood loss as he could, as fast as he could.

“Where’s the medical equipment you already used?” Keith asked, scanning the immediate area. He suddenly saw a small box with an Altean symbol on it that he remembered seeing in the first aid cabinet of his own Lion. “Nevermind.” He pulled it towards him and opened it up. There was not much of anything in it. The gauze was almost entirely gone and there were some things that looked like sanitizer, maybe. Plus one more roll of medical wrap. Keith slid down to the broken leg. The bone was just barely protruding from the side of Lance’s calf. Keith shuddered involuntarily.

“I think I need to set this. But you could go into shock or I could mess up and make you bleed out if I sever a blood vessel or…” Keith couldn’t help listing all the possibilities of it going wrong.

“Keith. Stop. What if…..you just...leave it?”

“It’s bleeding through the wound. There isn’t swelling or discoloration. I think..that’s good. But...I mean you’re bleeding and I don’t know how to dress it with the bone poking through. I don’t..I don’t…” Keith shook his head, unsure of which option to take, unable to take his eyes away from the horrific wound now that they had focused on it so intently. He had seen broken limbs before. Hell, he had had plenty himself. But this injury was on an entirely different level, and it was Lance’s leg.

“How bad is it..the wound?” Lance asked through clenched teeth.

“Well the bone’s just barely visible but...it’s bleeding,” Keith said. He sounded out of breath.

“It sounds okay, for now. Just wrap it and splint it,” Lance suggested. Keith looked at him, shocked. What did Lance know about this kind of thing? Was someone going through a ton of pain and blood loss a better judge of this than he was? He was willing to bet on it because he didn’t have time to do otherwise. He used the sanitary pads to press along the wound, Lance was holding in shouts and hissing throughout the entire process. Keith wrapped the last medical bandage around the wound as delicately as he could manage, still worried about Lance’s nerves and blood vessels. Once he considered the job...good enough, he jumped up and searched through debris for something to use as a splint.

“Allura? Allura can you hear me? Shiro?” Keith spoke into his helmet, finally realizing he needed to make contact. He needed to let the others know so they could come with the Castle or ready the pods. Anything to help Lance start healing. He received no answer but found some plastic poles that might work as splints and got back to Lance, kneeling down by the break. He pulled out what looked to be a small roll of duct tape from one of the pockets on his belt. It wasn’t duct tape; it was some Altean version of it, though. It would have to do.

“This is going to hurt. I’m sorry. Again,” Keith said. Lance threw his right arm over his face as if it would help block out the pain he was about to endure. Keith felt on the verge of a heart attack, his heart was beating so hard and the tension in his body was fighting every breath. If Lance went into shock, that would be it. He didn’t think he’d be able to get him to the Castle in time to heal him after that. His fingers trembled as he held his hands in the air over the leg in question. He exhaled two shallow, swift breaths before proceeding to put the poles on either side of Lance’s leg.

Keith was sweating, but the deed was done after a few minutes. It took longer than expected because of Lance’s constant shouting and flinching. For the first time since they left Earth, Lance was using Spanish, and it was all swearing. Keith remained patient, waiting until Lance was able to hold still, before proceeding. Then it was back to shouting and flinching. This continued on repeat until Keith had fixed the leg up entirely. He then pulled some random debris from the side of him and propped the leg up on it.

“I hope that holds up,” Keith said aloud, though he was talking mostly to himself. Next was Lance’s stomach. He wasn’t sure how much bleeding was still going on, but Lance seemed too coherent to have lost too much blood. He was more worried about internal injuries that he might exacerbate. He began pulling the armor off of one of his arms, then ripped the entirety of the sleeve into tatters.

“Dude,” he heard Lance mutter from behind him. He ignored it and continued until he had several strips of material. There was no way to sanitize the strips, but he was more worried about blood loss than infection at this point. If he could stop the bleeding he knew Lance could get any infections taken care of once he was within a pod. At least that’s what he kept telling himself as he wrapped the strips around Lance’s current bandaging. Lance merely grunted in discomfort at that point. Keith knew he was fading fast. There was already so much blood surrounding him. All Keith could do was hope that it wasn’t enough to kill him. Keith put the armor back on his bare arm. It was cold and stuck to his sweat. He then moved to the other side of Lance.

“Okay, I’m gonna help you to your feet, and you can use your jetpack on your armor to--” Keith started, slowly lifting Lance’s arm over his shoulder, but Lance cut him off.

“Nope,” Lance said curtly. Keith looked at him, brows furrowed in confusion, a frown twisted on his lips. “Damaged. From...the second time,” Lance said between shallow breaths. Keith could feel his heartbeat pick up.

“What second time was this, anyway?” Keith asked, trying to distract Lance while he quietly tried to calm himself _again_.

“More of those...lightning guys. Froze 'em. Blue couldn’t take the power usage. Crashed...bad,” Lance seemed to be floating in and out of a sleeping state and eventually settled on sleep.

“Hey, no. No. Hey, Lance,” Keith said, patting at his cheek. Lance groaned in disapproval, but his eyes fluttered open again. Keith looked at him intently, his eyes bleary, unfocused, blood on his lips and scratches on his cheeks and chin. Before he could stop himself, his hand slipped to the side of Lance’s head, cupping it lightly before pushing the hair down and out of his face and Lance looked almost serene for a moment. He pulled his hand away quickly, realizing what he was doing. It was like a punch in his gut when he realized his hand was wet with blood.

“Lance! You have a head injury? Why didn’t you mention it sooner?” Keith practically screeched at him. Lance’s helmet had been strewn to his side since Keith found him, and Keith picked it up and looked inside. He was definitely looking at smears of blood.

“I..yeah. It’s not that bad,” Lance said as if he was telling Keith about a splinter.

“You don’t know that! That’s what you said about your stomach!” Keith said, throwing down the helmet and trying to tenderly push aside Lance’s hair to feel his head in his trembling hands. A large bump with a minor gash was visible, but he had no idea what was going on beneath the surface. He wished Pidge was here. Pidge could scan him. Pidge would know what to do. Keith pulled his own helmet off and threw it down, feeling suddenly constricted by it. He ran his hands back through his hair. Was it just a bump? Was it a fracture? It looked bad and the blood matted into Lance’s hair were only fuel for worst case scenarios that Keith was running through his mind. He knew he just had to get Lance to the Castle and into a healing pod and it would fix everything. It would fix _everything_.

It could be said that Keith was not the best in difficult situations. He was all emotion. His lashing out when he thought Shiro was dead, his difficulties with keeping in line at the Garrison, and now, being faced with the possibility of Lance dying were all good examples of the fact that he did not deal well when faced with emotional obstacles. He had never been. He could handle disappointment, sure; his trick was not to get attached. But he had really blown it this time. He was so the opposite of not attached when it came to Lance.

The fear of Lance getting hurt had crept up on him gradually. In battle, he always made sure to keep an extra eye out for him, in case he needed help (which he needed less and less of as time went on). The possibility of death and injury came with the territory of being defenders of the universe. Keith had said that like a mantra since the day they were handed the titles. And still, somehow he figured he would always be able to protect him from the worst of it.

Looking down at Lance’s broken, bloody body was gut-wrenching for him. He had not been around to protect him, and now he was useless in the aftermath. Keith swallowed hard. _Not the time,_ he told himself. _Focus on helping Lance, flip out later._ He wished he could tell that to his heart.

“Okay, what if we put my armor on you, and I could help you out while you used the jets?” Keith was talking out loud through any scenario that passed through his mind. Lance let out two sharp breaths, meant to be laughter.

“You’re too skinny. I probably have bruised or broken ribs. Your armor would crush me,” Lance managed to say. Of course he would be able to pull his energy to attempt to boast. Keith decided not to tell him about the differences between frame size and muscle mass.

“Maybe I can..make..a gurney,” Keith was grasping. Even if he could put one together, it was unlikely he could pull Lance through all the debris. His eyes searched the cockpit. There had to be an answer somewhere, he just had to think. Just think.

“Hey Mullet,” Lance breathed out. Keith’s eyes focused on Lance’s face. The blue of his eyes was just barely visible through the slits he was able to open. “Don’t look so gloomy. You’re bringing...me...down,” Lance said, a weak smile crossing his face, before he started wheezing in rapid succession and calmed down again. His smile remained. Keith pursed his lips, holding in everything his mind was telling him to let out. He forced a smile.

“Mullet, haven’t heard that one in a while,” Keith murmured, trying to force a less dire tone. Lance shut his eyes for a moment then fluttered them open again, still focusing on Keith. He grinned.

“Thought I’d take it out of retirement..for..for a special..occasion,” Lance said, swallowing hard between his last two words. Keith’s eyes focused on Lance’s chest for a moment. His breathing was shallow.

“Oh yeah?” Keith said weakly. “What’s that?” His mouth curved into the slightest of smiles, preparing himself for one of Lance’s terrible jokes.

“On account of I’m dying, Keith,” Lance said. It was so matter-of-fact; no sarcasm, no hint of a joke, not even a deadpan delivery. Just a pure fact. Keith swallowed and looked into Lance’s eyes. They were glinting, wet with tears. The smile was still on his lips.

“No,” Keith spoke suddenly. His response was comparable to someone turning down an offer of a drink. Keith steeled himself against the idea. He had come so far with Lance. He had found him alive, and it had to be for a reason. Keith’s life hadn’t been perfect, and had thrown him plenty of curveballs, but he had overcome each obstacle placed in his path. This was just another one. Just a seriously terrifying hurdle that he would jump over and that he and Lance would look back on and know they had made it through something so utterly harrowing. Because Lance was _not_ going to die. Keith wouldn’t allow that. He pulled out his bayard and it instantly transformed into its sword form. “Sorry Blue,” he said under his breath before he started hacking away.

 

\--------

His arms were _sore_. Hacking at the debris like some edgy jungle guide with a machete was not as easy as it might appear. He had successfully cleared enough of a way to pull Lance through carefully. It still wasn’t easy. Lance maybe have had a lean frame, but it was also long, and with his broad shoulders, carrying him was going to be awkward. Plus, Keith had to be extra careful. If there was internal tearing or anything of the like, Keith could make it a lot worse very easily. Not to mention his stiff leg in the makeshift splint. All elements that could end in disaster.

He wasn’t sure if Lance was safer within his armor, or if he should pull it off in case it was constricting or hiding any more wounds. Eventually, he opted for the former, but it made him that much heavier. He’d pulled Lance’s body up into a hug, with Lance shouting all the way. It wasn’t a long drawn out shout, but several small shouts interspersed to coincide with every slight movement his body made. Keith was silent, trying not to let his emotions screw his focus and hurt Lance even more. Keith had powered his jets right away before he even fully lifted Lance off the ground. Even so, Lance was a lot heavier than Keith thought he’d be.

The journey through the Blue Lion was painstakingly slow. Yet, Lance managed to complain enough to fill twice the journey about Keith’s damage done to the Blue Lion. Keith accepted it, relieved that Lance had the energy to continue speaking and focusing, even if it converged on anger towards him. Because whenever Lance stopped speaking, even for a few seconds, he looked like dead weight in Keith’s arms, and Keith preferred the disapproving words. Sometimes he’d stop complaining by force. Pained noises snuck from Lance’s lips, though Keith knew he was attempting to stifle them, either trying to seem strong or trying not to worry him, he didn’t know. Keith wanted to tell him he was strong, either way, but the words never made it past the conception stages.

By the time they were outside of the Lion and reached the barrier, Keith put Lance down on the ground to let him rest a bit before the journey back to the Red Lion; which looked longer going than coming. He looked down at Lance, then back at the distance outside the barrier. They had used their jetpacks to travel long distances in space, but gravity wasn’t an issue then. The gravity on this planet didn’t seem different from that of Earth or Arus, but he was no scientist, and he hadn’t thought to check before leaving the Red Lion. He could see it now, below in the plains, waiting.

“So we have a little over an hour before the next wave rolls around, right?” Keith asked, looking back to Lance. His eyes were shut and he was leaned back against a rock formation.

“Mm-m-maybe,” Lance groaned lightly. The words seemed hard for him to push out that time.

“What do you mean maybe? I thought you said every other hour?” Keith said, walking toward him. Lance snorted through his nose, which set off a series of intense inhales and coughing. Keith knelt by his side and gripped his hand, not knowing what to do except wait for it to pass.

“I don’t...have...a timer on me, Keith. It was a guess,” Lance said after his breathing had calmed down again. Keith groaned internally. They would either have to trust Lance’s incoherent perception or he would have to try and hack through more of the Blue Lion to get at Lance’s first aid. He was pretty sure, if the Lions had feelings at all, that the Blue Lion already loathed him. He had no desire to harm Lance’s Lion further. Keith was very suddenly distracted by a noise.

Pat. Pat pat. Soft noises from above and to the side. Pat-pat-pat. They grew faster in pace, and suddenly they were surrounded by it.

“Rain!” Lance’s voice suddenly boomed. Keith realized Lance was right; the barrier was being bombarded by a heavy rainfall. Keith turned back toward him and recognized him for the first time since he’d found him. His smile was toothy and light, and real. “We gotta..go out there,” Lance said, trying to calm his breathing. Keith looked at the rain carefully. It looked no different from the rain on Earth, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.

“Can we scan it?” Keith asked, more to himself than Lance. Pidge was always using different functions of the armor, but Keith had barely attempted to understand what technology was hidden within it, seeing it only serving a purpose in battle and flight.

“Blue,” Lance huffed. There was a moment’s hesitation before the barrier began disappearing.

“Lance!” Keith ran over to him and put his shield over them to block them from the rain.

“You’re...ruining..the moment..again,” Lance said, trying to lift his arm to push Keith out of the way so he could get drenched by the rain. Keith rolled his eyes and tried to bring up his wrist screen the way he’d seen Pidge do it before. Lance rolled down to his side and stuck his hand out into it.  
“Lance!”

“Keith, we both already got wet from it. Plus, I’m dying. Let me have this,” Lance said, trying to push himself up again. Keith sighed, dissolving his shield and helping Lance up.

“We need to move so the barrier can go back up,” Keith said, lifting Lance slowly into his arms again as his jetpack fired up. “Um, we’re going down. Can you..um, put your arms around my neck?” Keith asked as if he was asking an embarrassing favor and it wasn’t a matter of safety. Lance slowly pulled up the arm that had been crammed against Keith’s chest, groaning all the way, and put it over Keith’s shoulder. The other arm came up just as slowly. Keith felt the weight around his neck sufficient enough, and lifted, using his jets to hold most of the weight as he carried Lance quickly to the outer edge of the barrier.

“Blue,” Lance mumbled against Keith’s chest. Keith saw the shield flicker on again in the corner of his eye before jumping down from the crater.

 

\------

“So we’ll be kind of...herding them to the specified point on the map?” Pidge asked, pushing up her glasses.

“Precisely. Though the pulse will be amplified at a devastating magnitude, I’m not sure it’s enough to reach the entire system. We will need to lead them to us quickly, and then get you all back into the Castle safely before using it.”

“Can the pulse even travel through space? Plus I still don’t get how an EMP device is going to deal with things that make..lightning?”

“It doesn’t matter, Pidge!” Hunk said curtly. Pidge recoiled at Hunk’s tone. “I’m sorry. I’m just...can we save the questions for when we get back?” Hunk placed a hand on Pidge’s shoulder to amplify his apology. Pidge half-smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I will gladly answer any scientific questions you have, after the fact. Or you can even look through our archives. But Coran is just about done tuning the device and we need to get the Lions out there and into the fray. Our plan works on a great deal of precision. We need to gather as many of the fighters in one area and pull back as soon as possible. It will be tricky, and more dangerous than it sounds, especially if your timing is off. We cannot have you out there when the pulse goes off.”

“What about Keith and Lance?” Shiro asked. “If the Lion’s barriers aren’t a match for this pulse, shouldn’t we try and get them back to us before we do this? I can go down and grab them.” Allura looks to him, wanting to give him a positive response. She was lacking in that area lately.

“My belief is that they’re after the Lions now. They’ve sensed what they’re capable of and I have no doubt that the planet they’re currently on is under heavy guard. I cannot explain it in great detail, but Lance and Keith will be fine as long as they stay grounded on the planet. The pulse is more finely tuned to the Vereltet than other mechanical beings. It is dangerous even so. The Lions will receive damage physically, but the pulse cannot penetrate the..more spiritual-sentient aspects. We can repair them. Coran will be broadcasting a message that Keith should be able to receive, letting him know not to pilot the Lion until we give the okay, or come down ourselves for rescue. Are there any questions?” Allura said, before quickly turning to Pidge as their arm shot up. “Relevant to the strategy?” Pidge’s arm dropped to their side.

“Alright. Get to your Lions and await further instruction,” Allura ordered. The paladins dispersed.

“Hunk, it’s going to be okay,” Pidge offered as they nearly jogged down the hall. “Keith’s with him now. He’ll help him.” Pidge watched as the spoken words had a very odd calming effect on Hunk. For the first time since they had gotten Allura’s call back, he smiled.

“You’re right Pidge. Keith wouldn’t let anything happen to him,” Hunk said, matter-of-factly. Without another word, they split off to their separate hangars.

 

\--------

Despite the lack of height, traveling down the rocky mountainside was terrifying all the same. Keith took extra precautions not to jostle Lance unnecessarily, but the rain made the rocks slick. Keith had slipped a couple of times, bumping Lance against himself and another time against a rock wall. Lance merely responded with tight-lipped groans, but Keith knew he was trying to hide the amount of pain he was in.

“Put me down, put me down put me...down,” Lance wasn’t exactly saying, so much as breathing out the words rapidly. Keith could barely hear him, his voice could not even penetrate the noise of the rain. They had just reached the base of the mountain. Keith noticed some rock formations that were blocking the dirt of the desert from the rain. Keith began to walk towards it when Lance stopped him.

“No, no. I wanna feel the rain,” Lance whispered. Keith sighed, desperate to tell him that the rain could potentially be worsening his condition and that they were trying to beat the electrical wave. Instead, he turned off his jets, knelt down in the wet dirt and placed Lance down beside him. He moved to sit beside Lance and left one of Lance’s arms over his shoulders to keep him propped up. Lance was leaning into him, unable to sit up on his own at all anymore.

They sat in silence for a while. Lance’s face was tilted up towards the sky, letting rain streak down the sides of his face, washing away some of the blood. Keith had never seen Lance look so at peace. He wanted to take a moment to appreciate it, but in the circumstances, it worried him more than anything.

“Rain...is amazing,” Lance said after a while. A whimsical smile formed on his face, and Keith wondered what memories were going through his mind at that moment.

“I guess,” he murmured in response, not really wanting to butt into whatever Lance was thinking about. Keith kept eyes on Lance, helpless to tear his eyes away from the smile. Then laughter came. Or, at this point, Lance’s feeble attempts at laughter. It was infectious, even in the pathetic state that it was, and Keith laughed with him for a moment, not knowing why, only feeling that he really needed it. Keith didn’t know how long they laughed; minutes, or seconds.

He was still feeling the effects of it warming his stomach as he brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked at Lance again. He was entirely drenched, and Keith would have to convince him to leave soon. He squinted, watching the rain patter against Lance’s forehead, nose, mouth. But something struck him suddenly as he noticed the distinct way in which droplets were streaming down Lance’s cheeks; they weren’t coming from the rain.

Keith grabbed the hand that had been resting gently over his shoulder and squeezed it delicately. Lance’s chest vibrated as he inhaled, shuddering, an obvious attempt to hold in his sobs. Instead, he let out a forced laugh.

“I don’t wanna die here,” he confessed in whispers through his exhale. He sniffed in, avoiding Keith’s gaze.

“You won’t,” Keith said with a grunt as he got to his knees to lift Lance again. He powered his jets. “We’re going to get you to the Red Lion, and patch you up, and then get you back to the Castle.” Keith’s voice was wavering.

“Keith,” Lance said weakly, attempting to interrupt him.

“And we’ll get you in one of the healing pods, _again,”_ Keith stuttered as he began to walk towards the Red Lion. “And this will just be something you survived.” Keith sniffed, giving away any chance for the rain to hide his tears.  
“Keith, you gotta….get word….to my...family,” Lance said sleepily. “They need to know,” he continued. Keith felt Lance’s grip very lightly tighten on his neck. “Tell them what happened to me. Tell em..I’m sorry,” he murmured.

“Stop,” Keith pleaded lowly, his voice cracking.

“They never even knew...can you promise? Keith?”

“Stop, Lance, you’re not going to d---”

“Keith! Don’t be selfish.” Keith refused to look down, even though he knew Lance’s eyes were on him. “Will you tell them?”

“Yeah,” Keith murmured, though he was sure it came out in a shudder. Lance’s head rested limply against his neck, seemingly satisfied with the answer.

“Tell Hunk sorry too, for all the times I wasn’t as good to him...as he was to me,” Lance said, his voice steadying ever so slightly.

“He’ll cry,” Keith said, unwilling to dwell on the thought of how losing Lance would affect the others. Lance let a happy sound escape him.

“Yeah, but...he always is,” Lance said, trying to force out another laugh despite his several failed attempts over the past hour. “Tell Pidge too. I messed with Pidge because Pidge is the best.” Lance was mumbling into Keith’s armor at that point.

“We’re almost there. Just hold on for a little longer,” Keith said, hoping it would quiet Lance's list of last words.

“Cool,” Lance said. “Because moving...really _hurts,_ ” Lance mumbled, giving up the pretenses of feeling okay. Keith was glad Lance wasn’t fully coherent. He didn’t want him to see the distraught look that he knew was on his face. He wondered if Lance could feel his pounding heart. Lance coughed again. A light spray of blood spread across Keith’s armor before trickling down with the rain.

“I’m sorry,” Keith muttered after a moment of silence, when he felt calmed enough to speak. A few more minutes and they would be in the Red Lion. The rain was letting up.

“It’s not your fault,” Lance said, eyes shut.

“Yes it is. This is all my fault. If I didn’t say something stupid and make you feel so terrible, maybe none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have been mad when we got back from our mission and Shiro wouldn’t have snapped at you. Then you wouldn’t have hated me so much that you couldn’t even form Voltron, and you would have been on your game with those...whatever they are. And we’d have all been back at the Castle together. You wouldn’t _be_ in this pain right now. All of this is my fault.” Keith’s heart was in his stomach. He didn’t even know he had needed to say all of that. He didn’t even realize how much he had been harboring; holding in. He finally let his eyes relax and checked Lance out through his periphery. He could tell his eyes were open, the widest they had been since he’d found him on this planet. Then slowly the lids grew heavy again and his eyes were back to slits.

“I overreacted,” Lance said, realizing Keith’s apology was completed. “I know...you...you’re not great with words. I know that.” Keith felt a twinge of..something in his chest at Lance’s words. He sounded so utterly certain that he knew Keith. Under different circumstances, Keith would have really liked to hear that. “I knew better...And I came to the conclusion…” Lance stopped to groan as Keith stepped down too hard. Keith sucked in his breath, but Lance continued. “ _Of course_ you and Pidge were best...for a covert mission. Of course. But…” Lance looked out, avoiding the possibility of meeting with Keith’s gaze. “I mean, it still sucked. Thinking you didn’t think I was good enough, you know? I let my feelings... get hurt.” Lance swallowed hard. He seemed to be looking at the Red Lion. They were so close. One more minute. “ And then the rest...as they say...is history.”

“Lance, why...how could you think... _of course_ you’re good enough! How many times do I need to tell you? We need you! The Blue Lion needs _you. I_ need you. I don’t want anyone else piloting the Blue Lion. I don’t want someone replacing your horrible jokes, or your stupid cocky bragging. I don’t want someone else trying to compete with me, pushing me to do better. I don’t want to look at the Blue Lion and have someone else’s face come to mind. None of _this…_ .would be the same without you. No one else is good enough. It can only be _you_.” Keith’s words were suddenly caught in his throat. “So..um...don’t die, okay?”

Keith was exhausted. His arms were dying under Lance’s weight, despite the help of his jets. His legs were wobbling and he knew he was making some missteps that were likely costing Lance tons of pain. None of this seemed to register anymore, because he was pretty sure he just let Lance know exactly how much he meant to him. The rain had cleared and he was absolutely certain Lance could hear his heart thudding against his armor. They were almost at the barrier. Just a few more yards. He looked down at Lance, who seemed to be sleeping. Of course he’d finally lose consciousness when Keith was saying something important. He was going to give him an earful if... _when_ he woke up.

“Open up!” Keith shouted at the Red Lion. It let out a strange metallic sound and then the barrier fell and Keith was almost ready to fall into its mouth.

“I kinda wish…” Lance was muttering suddenly, “I had kissed you that time, now.” Only a few words, but Keith knew his face was beet-red. He also knew Lance could hear his heart beating against his armor because the jerk was grinning. Sweaty and clammy and white as sheet and still grinning. Keith focused again, bringing him to the rear of his cockpit where there was a bit more room spread out. He placed Lance down against a wall and grabbed one of the plastic sheets out of a cabinet and spread it on the floor. He then placed Lance down on top of it.

“I’m serious,” Lance said, his voice a little louder through his grunts as Keith positioned him on the ground, and slowly began pulling off Lance’s armor. “You should totally..ah...kiss me.” Keith suddenly pulled one of Lance’s greaves off to quickly and Lance yelped.

“Ah, sorry,” Keith said, feeling attacked as he became flustered over one thing while still being panicked over another.

“Keith,” Lance said, the tone in his voice had become stern. Meanwhile, the Red Lion was flashing images through his mind. Keith saw himself hacking through the Blue Lion, ripping its insides apart. Keith was pretty sure if the Lions could be pissed, that he had just pissed off the most temperamental one.

“Yeah, yeah! I had to make a choice!” Keith said suddenly.

“A choice?” Lance grunted out as Keith pulled his chest armor off of him slowly.

“The Red Lion’s mad. About Blue,” Keith mumbled. “About what I did to pull you out.” He jumped up and went to his cabinet with emergency supplies. He pulled out several large containers and dropped them on the ground beside Lance.

“You go, Big Red,” Lance groaned out.

“Don’t encourage it!” Keith grumbled, kneeling beside Lance and immediately unwrapping the bandaging around his waist. “I’m going to put new dressings on this and make sure there’s no possibility of bleed through.” Keith informed him. His chest clenched when he noticed that the bandages were still wet, but then he realized it seemed to be from the rain and not fresh blood. He exhaled in relief.

“Keith, I could be dead. Like...soon,” Lance started again. Keith’s eyes shot in his direction, but Lance was just blankly staring at the ceiling of the Red Lion. “So my dying wish is that you kiss me.”

Keith groaned. “You sound kinda desperate now, Lance,” he said, throwing aside the shreds of his former suit. He inhaled sharply when he realized the blood appeared dried underneath. “Okay,” he murmured under his breath in a newfound relief.

“Okay? You’ll do it?” Lance’s eyes looked up at him from his spot on the ground. “And I’m kinda _dying_....so I think desperation is aprop--HNG.” Lance’s words were cut off by a noise of pain. Keith hadn’t touched anything that he knew and fearfully searched Lance’s face for a clue. He watched in horror as Lance’s face twisted in pain. His arms shook at his side.

“What’s happening? What’s going on? _Lance_!” Keith said, shifting to hold Lance’s head. He looked on the brink of seizing.

“Knives. My chest…” Lance said through shallow breaths. In another moment Lance’s expression relaxed and he continued breathing shallowly. “I’m definitely...bleeding internally,” Lance panted out. “This..sucks.” Keith’s eyes fixed on Lance’s face, and he placed a hand gently on his forehead. Lance’s breathing continued to relax and Keith leaned down and brushed his nose against Lance’s.

“You get through this, and I’ll show you this thing my first boyfriend taught me,” Keith said before pulling his head and hand away from Lance’s face and going back to putting a clean dressing on his stomach wounds. Lance wheezed.

“You’re kinda evil,” he managed, before his head cocked to the side. “ _You had a boyfriend_? What? No way!” Lance’s breathing hitched as Keith began cleaning his wounds.

“I’m going to ignore your offensive tone. But yes. I had a boyfriend. Just the one,” Keith said, paying more attention to what he was doing than to the conversation.

“When? For..how long?” Lance suddenly seemed reinvigorated and Keith noticed the change in his voice.

“Couple years ago. For like two weeks.” Keith pulled out sterile pads and placed them on the wounds. There was only minimal bleeding from the two gashes in Lance’s side. Lance wasn’t lying when he said they weren’t as bad as they looked; at least Keith could be thankful for that.

“Two weeks?” Lance mumbled. “That doesn’t count. I’ve had constipation..that’s lasted longer than two weeks.”

“Your digestive issues aside,” Keith grimaced as he began wrapping a long bandage around Lance. Lance made noises of discomfort each time Keith had to move his body to get underneath him. “It does count. But, I mean I wasn’t really..interested. It just seemed like..a thing to do? Like..try it out, you know? See what all the ‘romance’ fuss was about. And he was cute, but kind of..boring,” Keith said, his eyes shifting to Lance’s face then back to the wound. He finished wrapping and stood, bringing a plastic bucket with him.

“I don’t get that,” Lance mumbled. “I’ve never dated anyone I wasn’t…. head over heels…. bananas over.” Keith felt his face flushing slightly, but swallowed it down and began cleaning the wound on Lance’s head while he continued talking.

“Ceci Mendoza in third grade. She had great hair and...and always shared her... desssss--ah ow hey---desserts her mom packed in her lunches. True love if you ask me.” Keith watched at a very mild smile passed over Lance’s lips as he remembered. “Then there was Fahira...in seventh grade? She was kinda like Hunk,” Lance’s eyes darted around the Lion as he remembered. Keith felt a burning need to ask a question, about Hunk, but it died in his throat and Lance continued. “She was really sweet. Kind, generous, thick. Great hugs.” Lance's words were starting to run into one another like waves crashing then breaking up. The tone of his voice went up and down in seemingly random intervals. Keith was just glad he was still capable of recalling and telling stories. It was also helping to keep him more calm. He tried to section off Lance’s hair to get a better view of the scalp. So far the gash didn’t look too terrible. He was more worried about the bump, and the possibility of a fracture. But then again, Lance seemed coherent enouh, so maybe it was just another needless worry.

“But she moved away the next year. And then...the year before I got into the Garrison? There was Teddy Franklin,” Lance paused, noticing Keith’s hand had stopped moving against his head, it was merely resting. His eyes shot up and Keith looked at him, then back at the wound as if he had forgotten what he was doing.

“Oh,” he mumbled before continuing. He finished cleaning and began to put the sterile pads against the small gash that led from his hairline to the base of the top of his skull. He wondered how Lance even managed that one as he cleared his throat. “So..um, Teddy?” He asked, wanting to keep Lance talking, though he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.

“Oh..yeah. She was pretty awesome. Kind of a shy personality. Really long hair, great smile, a real sweetheart too,” Lance shut his eyes as he thought back on it. Keith’s heart sank a little when he realized Teddy was the name of another girl. It was kind of nice listening to Lance talk about traits he found attractive though; they almost seemed in contrast to the way he typically came on to women. However, he also noted that none of them shared qualities he himself possessed. He pulled another bandage out of the container.

“I’m going to need to wrap your head, can you lift it?” Lance made an attempt at lifting his head from the ground. Keith placed his hand underneath it to help him along. “So you seem to have a type,” Keith said as he began wrapping.

“Hm?” Lance raised an eyebrow and stared up at him. Keith offered a half-cocked, confused smile.

“Um, all the girls you mentioned, you talked about how nice they all were. Very Hunk-like,” Keith paused, sliding his tongue between his teeth nervously. Words were on the tip of his tongue but he wasn’t sure he should say them. “I’m surprised you and Hunk aren’t...a thing.” He almost dropped the roll of gauze, surprising himself by blurting out his final sentence. There had been no basis to suggest Lance even liked men, aside from an an attempt at a kiss, plus his insistence on giving him a kiss as a dying wish. But for all Keith knew, maybe he wanted to use him to see what it would be like. Lance merely smirked at the idea.

“Nah. Hunk’s too good for me. I mean….we’re...lifers. Sure,” Lance paused to cough again. More blood on his lips. “But..but he deserves someone..just as good.” Lance said, somewhat quietly. His eyes flashed to Keith’s face, then back to the ceiling. Keith finished wrapping his head and was clamping the bandages. “It’s kinda funny you said that thing….about types….” Keith pulled his hands away from Lance immediately, feeling suddenly nervous and unsure if he wanted to know what Lance would say. “My mom..said the same thing,” Lance said after a few shaky seconds. “She said I shouldn’t date that kind of person because...I’m too much. I’d...walk...all over them. Not like...on purpose.” Keith could see the tears welling in Lance’s eyes as he merely mentioned his mom. They were obviously close. Keith’s expression softened with sympathy. “She says I need someone, who can keep up. Keep me...in line and push back...when I get carried away. I think she's probably..right. What's new?” Each of Lance’s words were marked with small breathy laughs. He let the tears that had pooled in his eyes fall down his cheeks in two thin streams. They were gone seconds later.

“She sounds like a good woman. Smart woman. Your mom,” Keith said softly, awkwardly. Comforting others was not one of his shining qualities. 

Keith wondered what he missed out on by not having a mom to pass down that kind of wisdom to him. The only romance advice he had ever gotten was from Shiro and the jist of it was: that he was flattered by Keith’s crush on him, but that he needed someone his own age; and that he knew Keith would find someone to love him, even the parts he didn’t love about himself. Keith thought it was all stupid at the time; that he was being placated. Hoping for something like that just left you feeling disappointed and rejected. _Case in point_ , he thought as he looked down at Lance who seemed to be lost in his thoughts. Keith cleared his throat.

“Anyway, you’re good. I mean. Enough. Good enough. For Hunk, or..whoever. But, I mean,” Keith’s words fell out of his mouth in no particular order and he wasn’t sure how to pick them up and fix them. Lance merely smirked.

“Never a camera around when you need one,” he said, his eyes focusing back on Keith.

“Huh?” Keith tilted his head lightly.

“Nothin. And thanks. I do..what I can. But Hunk is on another level. He’s like...boy scout good. He’s generous, thoughtful...doesn’t lie, like ever,” Lance’s face twisted into something sad again as his chest shuddered.

“What’s wrong?” Keith said, looking over Lance’s body. Lance gulped and shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together.

“S'nothin’,” he breathed out. Keith had almost forgotten how urgently he needed to get Lance back to the Castle with all of this chatter. “Kinda bummed about dying though,” Lance added, his voice reaching its normal levels.

“You won’t,” Keith said. He was listening into his helmet again for any static or chatter. “Hello? Hello? This is Keith, does anyone copy?” No response.

“Listen, tell Coran….I was serious about putting my brain in the castle. Then we can all still hang out. As for the rest of me...well I filled out an organ donor card last year, but I don’t think that-aah--that transcends into---hnn---space. My parents’ll probably want my body for a burial,” Lance murmured on about his death plans and Keith felt the panic rising again. But then he focused on something Lance had said about being an organ donor, and just as quickly, the panic was extinguished.

“We’re idiots,” Keith said, jumping to his feet.

“Huh,” Lance uttered, looking over to him as Keith threw open a set of cabinets.

“We’re idiots! The blood! The survival class. The blood! I can….oh god maybe I can..I don’t know. I hope this came with a manual,” Keith was talking mostly to himself in partial sentences. Lance watched him, not quite catching on until he pulled out a large container out of cold storage.

“Oh. Your blood. Well, _I’m_ not an idiot. I thought of that...back on Blue. But my first aid cabinets were blocked. You’re still an idiot though,” Lance smirked as Keith looked to him with wide eyes and a smile just as big.

“Huh?” Keith said, walking back to his side and placing the large container down beside him before reaching into another set of cabinets.

“Keith...your blood….do you understand blood types?”

“I thought this was so stupid when Allura made us do this, but she’s just...the smartest person we’ve ever met. She wins over Pidge. Sorry Pidge,” Keith said. He knew he sounded manic but he we was elated. He could not believe the dumb luck. Out of all the others that could have found Lance, it was him. There was a reason for it after all. He pulled out plastic bags and tubes from the cabinet and walked over to Lance’s side. “I’m a universal donor,” Keith said, practically laughing out the words. Lance still looked at him through skeptical slits that made up his eyes.

“You..wanna give..me...a transfusion. You didn’t even look like you were paying attention... when Coran and Allura were….explaining,” Lance’s lips tightened as he looked at Keith holding the plastic up to his face, reading all the pieces.

“I’m a little hazy. And there’s still some risk, involved, I know. But it’s an emergency. There’s probably a manual somewhere,” Keith said, letting hope wash over him for the first time in hours.

“I can...walk you through it…” Lance grunted out the words. Keith looked down at his body. He was still sweating, and his stomach was twitching. He stared at it a moment, wondering if it had been that swollen earlier when he was wrapping it.

“Um..okay. Okay. I remember how to put these pieces together,” Keith said. His bubble of elation had ended and he was becoming nervous again.

“Is there...even saline? Or an IV for…” Lance began, but he stopped his sentence abruptly. Keith was busy fiddling with the instruments he needed to attempt the procedure.

“IV for what? Lance? IV for…” Keith pulled his eyes away from the tools long enough to glance over at Lance. His body was calm, peaceful. His eyes were shut and he wasn’t moving at all. Keith looked at his chest. It raised, then lowered. He was alive, but...it raised and lowered. Vibrating. His arms shook, his head was shaking back and forth and Keith thought his neck would snap. He gaped in horror for a moment as Lance’s body shuddered uncontrollably. Keith moved quickly, pulling him on his side.

“Lance, Lance. Get through it, Lance. I’m here. You can get through this!” Keith shouted as he gripped on Lance’s arm to keep him on his side. After what felt like forever to Keith, the movement stopped, though his trembling hands kept him from realizing it for a second.

“Lance,” Keith whispered, feeling his cheeks wet with tears he hadn’t even realized had fallen. He laid him down again, staring intently at his chest then quickly moving his hand to Lance’s neck to feel for a pulse. Then Keith heard nothing but a painful ringing in his ears. He knew he was shouting, but couldn’t hear that either. No movement. There was nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a lot of research for this chapter but I'm sure I still came up pretty short in regards to science/space/medicine. If you're an expert in any of those fields, I apologize profusely for any inaccuracies. My bad my bad. 
> 
> Eternal thanks for your support!!!


	14. It's Been an Honor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight gore, death acceptance/suicidal thoughts. Um, please suspend your disbelief.
> 
> Another long chapter, which took me so long because I had to rewrite one scene 4 times.
> 
> My mood music for the chapter:  
> [Oblivion feat Susanne Sundfor (extended)-M83](https://youtu.be/mSNSpIFiKRs?list=PLo3rMZURLg4Gs-4UL0Q9duLAWRas76_0f)  
> [Iscariot-Walk the Moon](https://youtu.be/i8ba1CT4GoA?list=PLo3rMZURLg4Gs-4UL0Q9duLAWRas76_0f)

White. Only white. It reminded him of sea spray. The edges were hazy, like tiny bubbles, but everything else was just white. It was calming, at first. But then the pain trickled in. Knives in his guts, in his chest, his head. It was as if he could feel his brain pounding against his skull. The pain kickstarted his other senses, and he could taste the blood in his mouth; next smells flooded in: blood and sweat and rot, flooding his nostrils mercilessly. And the white, the white faded slowly into dull colors, then into shapes, abstract, but somewhat analogous to something he knew. The world was bokeh.

Sounds came last. Ringing turned into uncomfortable vibrations turned into muffled sounds, like someone speaking into a megaphone too closely. The ringing quieted but didn’t go away entirely. The muffled noises were ongoing and he strained his ears to understand; an attempt to fine tune his brain. A voice going nonstop. He listened for a little longer; the voice sounded angry. He blinked rapidly. The shapes were blurred, but they started to make sense. The colors started fitting together. Lights and shadows contrasted heavily underneath the lights above. He shut his eyes tight, realizing it was too bright right now. His head was unforgiving.

He tried to call out, to tell someone to turn down the lights, but he couldn’t even hear his own voice. It was lost in white noise and ringing. He cleared his dry throat and tried again.

“Man, this sucks,” he said, more to the point. He didn’t open his eyes. He could practically feel the heat of the lights on his eyelids. His face was burning up. “Water?” His voice cracked, barely audible.

“ _Lance?_ ” The muffled voice shouted, too loudly. Like another knife in the base of his skull.

“W-water?” Lance repeated. His throat was so dry. His skin was burning. He heard metallic thuds approaching him, obviously footsteps along….wherever he was. He wouldn’t open his eyes to see. A hand gently grasped his jaw to pull his mouth open. Lance tried to swipe at it but something tugged on his arm.

“Don’t move, you’ll pull out the IV,” the voice said quietly, gently. The muffled quality had dropped and he knew who was speaking to him. “Water,” the voice said softly, trying again to tilt his jaw open.

“Keith,” Lance uttered. Then there was a bottle at his lips. Water fell into his mouth at a trickled pace and Lance swallowed hard. Another stab at the back of his head. He grunted, and the bottle was pulled away. “Keith,” Lance repeated.

“Yeah, I’m here,” the voice was soft, so soft. Lance had never heard Keith use such soft tones. He was usually all fire and emotional energy bubbling over. This was nice.

“This...is just like one of my mom’s favorite novelas,” Lance said, unable to halt a smirk that seemed to crawl onto his face on its own. Keith made a clicking noise with his tongue and Lance ignored the stabbing pain for a second longer to enjoy that fact.

“Do you want more water?” Keith asked. If he had been annoyed by Lance’s teasing, his voice didn’t hint at it.

“Nah. Could you turn down the lights though?” Lance asked, his eyes still shut tightly. He heard Keith shuffling slightly before stopping.

“Um, I’m not sure..how..Oh. There they go. Thanks,” Keith said as if another person was in the room.

“Thanks, Big Red,” Lance said in a light groan, slowly opening his eyes up to adjust to the dimmer light in the room.

“Why do you call it that?” Keith asked. Lance unintentionally ignored the question as he looked around him, noting that he was still on the ground on a plastic sheet of some sort. Keith was kneeling beside him on his right, still holding a water bottle, still staring at him as if he’d stop breathing at any moment.

Lance glanced at his arms, IVs and pouches set around him, latched onto objects in a seemingly careful pattern. His eyes landed on the thin tube of blood going into his arm and he turned away quickly, grunting in discomfort. He wasn’t exactly afraid of needles, but he had never really been fond of them either. Though he supposed no one really loved getting needles jabbed into their bodies. Speaking of bodies, Lance became very aware that his body was more exposed than he had remembered leaving it.

“Keith, am I naked?” Lance looked nervously up at Keith then shut his eyes, not wanting to really look or get an answer.

“What? No! Why would you be naked?” Keith said a little too disgusted for Lance’s taste.

“You don’t have to sound like that’s the worst thing in the world,” Lance managed. He could hear the slurring in his words still. The longer he spoke, the more his words seemed to run together.

“Lance! Ugh! I cut through your suit to check for any more damage,” Keith explained. The sentence had started off annoyed but ended in the same softness from before. Lance almost missed the sound of Keith’s voice when his hackles had been raised. But then he supposed Keith had just been through a lot of emotional trauma having to watch him die and all; so maybe he should cut him a little slack.

“How much did you cut off exactly?” Lance decided a direct question would be the least likely to rile Keith.

“You’re still in the bottom half. I didn’t want to touch your broken leg. And the other leg didn’t have any blood soaking through, or any weird bends or bumps, so I left it alone too. Are you cold?” Keith pulled out two shrink-wrapped plastic bags from beside him somewhere. Lance took a moment to glance at him. Both arms were intact on his black suit, which meant he had a back up on board and had changed. Lance smirked at the thought.

“Not really. I’m kind of on fire, actually,” Lance admitted. Nothing had stopped hurting. His head and stomach were the worst, though. But he was alive. He was brought back from the brink of death, even if he still felt it pulling at him. But definitely alive. Thanks to Keith.

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of the Castle, to let them know our situation. I haven’t gotten a clear response yet. It’s just more of that static,” Keith said, grimacing as he looked toward the front of the cockpit. “Another one of those waves came by and--” Keith’s voice seemed to die in his throat when Lance reached up and gently grabbed his hand.

“Don’t think..for a minute, that I haven’t noticed you saved my life,” Lance said softly, suddenly not wanting to poke fun anymore. Keith’s face suddenly flushed, and a lop-sided smile formed on his face. It was cute, and Lance appreciated his resurrection just a bit more. He noticed his heart rate increase slightly and let go of Keith’s hand, not wanting to complicate his situation. Keith cleared his throat.

“Well, we’re not out of the woods yet. We need to get you to the Castle.” Keith paused, then stood up and walked towards the pilot seat, clutching at its backrest. “Um, so I also scanned the area and there was some wreckage, Galra I think? It had your name written all over it.” Keith said, a hint of a sly smile on his lips. Lance raised an eyebrow in response.

“Well, broken pieces of ships trapped in a lot of ice. I remembered what you’d said earlier about how that was what brought you down,” Keith explained. Realization spread across Lance’s face.

“Oh, right! Definitely my handiwork. It’s still frozen huh? That Altean magic is pretty cool,” Lance said, more of an aside than to Keith. Keith nodded regardless and pushed some buttons on the control panel.

“We need to get ahold of Allura so we can get the ship’s coordinates and get out of here,” Keith said, finally sitting down in the pilot’s seat.

“We’re not leaving Blue,” Lance said sternly. He tried to calm his breathing as memories of the last several hours flooded through his mind. Blue’s downfall had been one of the hardest things he had ever been through. From the moment they had separated from Voltron it had been one disaster after another, and Lance and Blue shared every bit of anguish of the aftermath.

 

\----------

 

_Blue was sensitive, he got that now. Blue had read into all of Lance’s emotions and made up his mind to shut Keith out. It was why they had trouble forming Voltron to begin with. Blue wanted no part; but if Lance had anything, it was an unflappable sense of charisma, his track record be damned. He convinced Blue it was more important to form Voltron than to let their feelings get in the way of their purpose, and Blue had agreed reluctantly._

_Voltron ripping apart had been Lance’s fault entirely. He wasn’t as focused as he should have been and nearly got the team hit. And then almost immediately afterward, Keith and Pidge being praised just triggered something very dark and shameful in him. Lance was no stranger to envy, but coupled with his already depleted sense of self-worth, it just hit a nerve that had already been laid bare. Blue read into all of it, and both of them lost concentration. So when another Galra ship tried to meet them head on, they let it, and the impact ripped them from their already loosely threaded connection to the team._

_It had taken Lance a minute to recuperate. There had been a ringing in his ears and he had definitely hit his head. They just drifted for a moment, trying to find each other. Together, alone. He searched the back of his mind for Blue’s usual influence, a purr, a growl, anything. But there was nothing to meet his mental searching except silence. He could hear the voice of the others crackling through his helmet, and then Blue vibrated as if he was waking up from a cat nap and stretching out, and the connection was back. Lance thought that would be the end of it._

_Being ripped apart from Voltron had done something to Blue, though. He was sluggish, frenzied, inaccurate, and uncooperative. It was like Blue had space rabies or something equally weird. Lance’s fight with--what they thought were--the Galra had been one slip up after the next. He didn’t feel TOO bad, they were all kind of flying blind with the communication errors, but he was definitely worse off than the rest, even with Keith’s relentless pursuing and offers of assistance. It kind of dawned on Lance at that point, how foolish he had been. Keith had his back no matter what. There was no other way to look at it._

_Keith had been right when he told Lance he made horrible decisions when he had no time to think things through. Pushing Shiro through the wormhole without him was probably one of them. He knew his reasoning at the time, but in the hours since his crash-landing on a planet, he had a lot of time to think about it. It was such a stupid thing to do. He could have probably made it back with Shiro. The creatures following him would have been swallowed by the wormhole or destroyed by the team on the other side. But there was an impulse in him, aided by pressure from Blue, to help via sacrifice, and that’s what they went with. They pushed the Black Lion into the wormhole, spun a 180, and zipped through the enemies to get away._

_They were lucky to evade the majority of the fleet, but there were still several fighters on Blue’s tail. He thought he could lose them on one of the planets and picked one of the more lush ones, with good coverage. He slipped beneath trees in a forest before an electrical wave crashed down on him and Blue. Blue bubbled mid-flight and the Lion came crashing down to the planet’s surface at neck-break speed. Lance felt his stomach rip on something that flew through the cockpit as they both tumbled across the terrain. And then a panel blew from the side and on a toss, wedged his leg in an awkward angle, and it was broken by the time Blue had turned right-side up again._

_It had hurt like hell. All of it. The agony he was feeling pulsing through his body had been magnified as Blue did a diagnostic on all the damage taken. They had already been through the shredder out in space, this was the last thing they needed. Lance had panicked as Blue slowly started shutting down systems to preserve energy. There were leakages, trashed panels, torn ligaments (or what passed as ligaments for a giant robot Lion). There was no way Blue could remain in full functioning mode. Blue passed along a final mental note of the location of the self-reliant distress beacon. That was their last hope of communication with the other Lions and paladins. Then Blue was quiet. Lance could still feel the Lion, as though it was breathing around him, but it was unconscious._

_Lance did what he could on his own. He used his jetpack to move around the cabin, getting emergency supplies, the beacon. Then he sat and waited, leaving recordings, unsure if anyone could hear anything he was saying. His helmet had been damaged in the initial fall to the planet, but he had left it on, feeling comforted that he might still somehow hear a familiar voice in his ear. Maybe if he just waited patiently enough it would happen._

_That plan would have worked if the enemy hadn’t found him. He had taken an impromptu nap (if Blue could sleep, he could probably catch a few winks, after all). It was a pretty terrible idea since he should have been staying alert, and he had no idea if there was a concussion from his hit to the head from earlier. No one could say Lance didn’t follow through; it just so happened that this time, his follow-through was a series of bad judgment calls and amateur mistakes. It made him groggy and sluggish. He was in the middle of leaving another distress recording when he heard the familiar noises of Galra ships. He woke up Blue, he didn’t know how. Maybe Blue sensed his panic, he wasn’t sure but he knew they had to recoup and get the hell out of dodge. And they did._

_They led the enemy on a pretty fantastic chase over the planet, Lance had thought. He could out-maneuver the drones easily in Blue, even in the terrible state in which his Lion was. That’s when Lance first suspected he wasn’t fighting Galra. The enemies following him were not at all organized. Their tactics differed from everything he had witnessed in prior fights with the Empire. He probably would have noticed sooner if he hadn’t been so busy moping._

_Blue was struggling after a while. The chase was just lasting too long and Lance couldn’t get a good advantage on them, so he shifted his focus upwards. He didn’t know why he had done that at the time. Blue certainly seemed to think it was the wrong choice, but obeyed Lance’s command of the controls. Lance figured they could bubble in space and float if Blue got tired. But he had never really seen the barriers of the Lions tested in action. They were there to protect what was within, and keep others out. But he had no idea if it was strong enough against constant attack._

_His mistake was clear the moment he decided to ice the enemies. They had gained on him, despite his--Blue’s--best efforts. So Lance spun a turn and knocked into one full speed, pushing it back into the others. When he had the range he wanted he fired away with the ice laser and watched the ships freeze up. That’s when he verified the Galra had nothing to do with this system or this attack. It was as if the sheen of the ship tried to separate from it entirely, turning into a storm cloud, a swarm, with small tendrils of lightning lapping at the outer edge. Lance’s only words had been “Fuck that,” a sentiment used only in dire situations when he was very, extremely over something. He shot them with the laser and the cloud was engulfed by ice._

_Lance had hoped to watch the chunks of ice fall down to the planet, but instead he was watching them rise above his line of sight at a rapid pace. Blue was done and gone, and crashing back into the planet. Lance had pleaded, screamed, implored for Blue to round up some last bit of energy or strength or quintessence or whatever the hell it was that fueled the Lions. Just enough to slow their descent. There was no response from Blue. And Lance could remember, despite possibly falling to a very messy death, his worry was that he had just lost something uniquely and unimaginably important to him._

_He braced himself as he watched the planet’s surface grow closer and closer. He could feel the heat, he could smell burning metal, burning plastic, burning everything; they were descending so fucking fast. It would have been a thrill in another situation, in an intentional one that had a plan attached, but Lance only felt remorse and dread swallow him up. That moment was the first time he expected to die. Ten seconds to impact, Blue flickered, jets at full blast, but no way there was enough time to halt the impact enough. Instead the Lion bubbled as it drove them both into the base of a mountain._

 

\--------

 

Lance was drifting in and out of consciousness. He assumed the transfusion was doing its job, but he likely needed surgery or, he supposed, space healing magic while he was frozen in suspension; an idea which he accepted, but was ultimately still utterly perturbed by. The rush of memories surrounding Blue had knocked the wind out of him.

“Keith, can I get more water?” He asked, his voice cracked with dryness. He looked around the cabin until his eyes fell on Keith. He was silent and appeared to be in some state of shock or panic.

“Keith?” Lance murmured, clearing his throat, trying to ditch the scratchy feeling his thirst left him with. Keith’s eyes were wide as they met with his.

“How…” Keith uttered, barely audible. Lance merely looked at him with his brows scrunched down in his confusion. “How did you survive that?” Lance didn’t know whether his voice was full of awe or disbelief. Maybe both.

“What are you talking about?” Lance murmured. He reached for the water bottle since Keith was in some sort of trance and he wasn’t about to wait for him to snap out of it. Keith’s eyes darted towards Lance's hand, then at Lance. The movement seemed to bring his focus back into the present and he opened the bottle and leaned forward to pour it into Lance’s mouth.

“I just saw..everything. The Red Lion, it showed me everything. Since we’ve been separated from you. I saw that...final crash it was...you should be…” Keith sounded shaken to his core. Lance swallowed quickly, trying to ignore the new pains it brought down through his chest.

“How? I mean, how did Big Red show you that?” Lance looked around as if he’d find some explanation written on one of the Lion’s panels.

“I guess….maybe Blue sent the information? They do that,” Keith said offhandedly. He was not so concerned by how the information was extracted, he was still too busy dealing with the information he had received.

“I know they...Blue is out of commission, Keith. I know it looked like he was holding up, but honestly, that barrier is a last-ditch effort at self-preservation. I could still kind of talk to him, but he’s like...hibernating,” Lance groaned, though it came more from the idea of what he had said than from the pain surging through his body. “Which means, Big Red somehow got into my head. Which..shouldn’t be a thing...when..I’m not connected with Blue..ugh this is just really not good for my headache,” Lance said, lying back and wish he could pull his arms up enough to cover his face with his forearm.

Instead, he just shut his eyes for a moment. A minute of silence had passed and Lance dared to open his eyes again and see what Keith was up to. Keith was watching him intently, silently. There was a half-smile on his lips, but his eyes were apart from the smile. They were somewhere else.

“I have a theory, maybe,” Keith said after a moment. Lance merely looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue. “What the Red Lion showed me...well it looked like you were really in tune with Blue. I don’t mean you were just aware, but you were….feeling what Blue was feeling. You and Blue..were like this..hive mind creature. Blue reads off of you so easily, I’ve noticed it before. Like I know technically Shiro had mastered the connection with his Lion before anyone else, but honestly, he’s not at your level when it comes to your connection with Blue. I mean you still make stupid mistakes with piloting once in awhile, and Blue doesn’t warn you and it’s kind of funny. But maybe that’s the point. While you’re busy making us laugh, making us think, ramping us up...maybe Blue does that for the other Lions? I mean, I could just be overthinking things. But maybe the Red Lion could read you because what you had in your head was so closely connected with Blue on a lot of different levels that we don’t understand yet.”

Keith had finished saying his piece and Lance just stared. There were levels to his stunned silence. First, he had never heard Keith say so much. The last few hours notwithstanding, Keith was hard pressed to throw more than two sentences together at any given time. He noted that he liked this chatty Keith. Second, the theory Keith had pieced together, there was thought behind it. It wasn’t just something that Keith had thrown together based on some images that Big Red had flashed into his mind. It was obvious Keith had thought about this before, had considered their roles, had considered the part Lance played in the paladins, had considered him. Third, the information itself was kind of mind-blowing for Lance. He thought all the paladins had this with their Lions, that it was their entire purpose. They were supposed to have some mystical, inexplicable connection to these creatures..machines. Right?

Lance didn’t have a resolution for the questions Keith’s theory brought up. But he did know he wanted to kiss him, again. He wouldn’t press it anymore, however. Keith had made it clear it wasn’t going to happen, and if Lance was going to die, he’d do it with some of his dignity intact. Plus, why put Keith through the possible guilt of refusing his last wishes? Nobody needed that, Lance decided.

Keith had moved to the pilot seat again, fiddling with some buttons on the control panel. Pulling up screens that only played white noise and shades of gray. Keith grunted in dissatisfaction before putting his helmet back on.  
“This is Keith, again. Allura, Shiro...Pidge, Hunk, Coran? Anybody at all? Please respond if you copy!”

Lance watched Keith’s body tense in frustration before leading his eyes away to look around the cabin again. Some of the pain was numbing, or maybe he was just getting used to it, as bad as it was. He didn’t know, but he was pretty sure it was not a good sign. He had gotten his hopes up. Keith had brought him back to life and he was almost sure he would be able to actually see another day. But his chances were slim if he didn’t get back to the Castle soon. His mood was interspersed with despair and distraction. If these were his last moments, he was grateful to Keith for keeping his mind preoccupied. He sighed and his body shuddered. He was drifting off again and he kind of wanted to just go with it. He was exhausted.

“Lance?” Keith’s voice brought him out of it again. His voice was gentle, almost soothing as he spoke Lance’s name. Lance looked up at him as he sat down beside him again, removing his helmet.

“Hmm?” Lance murmured, feeling the down slope of his current mood.

“Would you tell me more about yourself? The question was awkward as Keith said it, but it was asked in a very sweet and inquisitive tone that piqued Lance’s interest. Lance raised an eyebrow despite it sending another shooting pain up his forehead.

“Why?” He didn’t mean it to come out so defensive or paranoid. Keith had never asked about him before unless it was in relation to Voltron, or piloting, or fighting.

“Uh, I just..want you to keep talking,” Keith admitted, his face flushing slightly. Lance understood. If he had seen someone he cared about die, he’d want consistent proof that they were still around.

“Hm. Okay. How about a story for a shirt?” Lance negotiated with a slight grin. Keith attempted to roll his eyes but gave up before doing so.

“My shirts won’t fit you,” Keith said plainly.

“I don’t care. I’m feeling exposed here,” Lance said, unable to hinder the slight whiny tone in his voice. Keith sighed.

“Fine,” he said as he stood up and went into a cabinet and pulled out a black shirt.

“What’d you wanna know?” Lance kept his eyes focused on Keith to keep him from dozing off again. Keith sat down as he thought; his lips moved around his face, side to side involuntarily. Lance smirked.

“Sorry, I’m not good with this kind of thing,” Keith finally said after a moment. He looked embarrassed almost.

“Okay. Then...I’ll tell you about my favorite birthday, and how my cousin Emilio almost ruined it by jumping off the roof and had to be taken to the ER,” Lance said with a grin. Keith shook his head, looking at him skeptically.

“No way,” Keith retorted.

“Do you want to hear it or not?”

Keith’s only response was a nod.

 

\--------

 

“Coran! Any contact yet?” Allura shouted over three different alarms blaring overhead. Several of the monitors were blinking red and chirping at them angrily.

“None! I’ve set it as a recording, it’s playing on loop. I can’t do anything more, Princess! I need to focus on the Castle’s systems!” Coran’s voice was trembling with anxiety. The Castle wasn’t in immediate danger, but if the three remaining paladins couldn’t corral the enemies more efficiently, the plan was going to fall apart.

“Right,” Allura agreed. She could only hope Keith and Lance would hear Coran’s message, or that they had already traveled out of the system to meet at the former rendezvous coordinates and were out of the range of danger. The interference was worse than ever, however. With all the electrical build up from the Vereltet and their swarms, hardly a message was getting out or coming through. It was complicating matters greatly. The sole semblance of comfort was that the Lions were at least able to communicate with one another. Even if Allura could not guide them through this, she had every confidence that Shiro would pull through and hold this mission together in his determined grip.

“Hunk’s having the worst of it,” Allura said, mostly to herself. Coran caught on and looked up at one of the screens.

“Well, we knew it could be the case. He can’t use brute force with those swarms. He’s doing what he can,” Coran acknowledged. Allura merely nodded.

“Paladins, the ship is moving into position shortly. As soon as the beam starts charging, you need to come back to the castle immediately,” Allura said, hoping they would hear her. No response, just more of the bloody static.

They had gone over everything, leaving nothing to chance before they had started this brazen plan. They knew what to watch for but she still worried. Allura did not have a complete idea of exactly how damaged the Lions would be if the pulse hit them. She assumed it would not be irreparable, her father had always been certain that nothing involving the lions was beyond repair. Still, it would be a huge setback in the fight against Zarkon. Not to mention she had no idea the damage the paladins might suffer while in their Lions when their connection severed in such a drastic way. She shuddered at the thought before repeating her message.

“Paladins…”

 

\--------

 

“...But then my Tia Raquel started laughing. I think she was kind of drunk, but I mean at that point so were a lot of my aunts and uncles. But anyway, it kind of set off a chain reaction, and soon everyone else was laughing too. I mean Emilio probably wasn’t laughing since he was being carted off to the hospital while the rest of us were eating my mom’s nationally acclaimed--I’m not kidding, by the way, if you ever look it up online you can find it-- my mom's tres leches. Oh man, my mouth is watering just thinking about it,” Lance was off on another tangent and tugging at the black shirt that fit snuggly against literally every curve and notch of his body. Keith was smiling lightly at him, chuckling quietly. The distraction of the conversation had kept Lance’s mind off his condition, even if his head was still pounding mercilessly as a constant and irritating reminder.

“What? You don’t believe me?” Lance raised a challenging eyebrow.

“Heh, no. It’s not that. You um...you kind of get a little bit of an accent when you talk about your family. I kind of noticed it before, but this time, it was really obvious.” Keith chuckled some more and Lance almost blushed.

“It’s not something I do on purpose,” Lance said, unsure if Keith’s words were meant to mock him.

“No, it’s fine. It’s nice. Just, something I noticed,” Keith said with a pause. He looked like he was about to say more, but their conversation was cut short.

“---eith------highly-----men-----pulse. Do _not_ \--------stle-------I rep--------come back-------will----empt----scu-------repeat-----ill------ou” Coran’s voice was in Keith’s helmet.

“They’re in the system! They have to be if they’re able to contact!” Keith jumped up and sat in his pilot’s seat, pulling his helmet on.

“Hello? Hello Hello! Coran! We copy! I’ve got Lance! Give us the coordinates and we’ll come to you!” Lance had never heard Keith so enthusiastic before. Strike that, he had heard him this excited when he found out his Lion had the power to shoot lava. Keith was silent and Lance lifted his head, straining his neck so he could just barely hear Coran’s voice in Keith’s helmet.

“It’s a recording,” Keith said, dully.

“Could you make any of it out?” Lance asked, laying his head back down on the ground.

“Well I heard him say to come back, but aside from that, not much. If they were requesting to rendezvous we would have heard him listing some coordinates. It sounded more like a warning?”

“What now? Is there something worse out there than those..spark...things?” Lance groaned in irritation.

“I don’t know. But Allura called us away as I was coming down to this planet. She said we weren’t safe. I didn’t hear why,” Keith seemed hesitant to admit it. Lance picked up on a note of embarrassment.

“Why didn’t you hear it? What happened?” Lance pressed the subject as gently as possible.

“Um, well she wasn’t saying exactly what the issue was. And she just called us back to the Castle. And I’m here, so….obviously I didn’t listen,” Keith wasn’t looking towards him, but Lance was pretty sure Keith’s ear was bright red. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a major lecture from Shiro when we get back,” Keith mumbled. Lance couldn’t help but grin.

“Anyone who gives you a hard time for saving my life can kiss my--” Lance was cut off by a growl from Big Red. At first, he thought the Lion had something against usage of profanities, but then Keith responded with his own sort of grunt that indicated trouble. “What’s happening?” Keith pulled up screens on the control panel and looked back and forth between them.

“Lance we need to go. Now!” Keith said aggressively.

“Not without Blue!” Lance said without hesitation.

“Lance! We don’t have a choice! We’re completely surrounded!” Keith shouted.

 

\--------

“Alright you guys, you’re doing great! Just a little more of a push! Pidge, lead em down! Hunk, keep circling. We’ve got this, you guys,” Shiro’s throat was dry. He had been nonstop giving orders for the better part of an hour. The Green Lion zoomed past him and he quickly followed behind. They had caught the attention of as much of the fleet as they could, taking a few down, but mostly leading them to the area that Allura had instructed. The Castle was assisting in crowd control, keeping the massive amount of Galra fighters in check with beams from their canons. The paladins had barely heard from the ship as soon as they had departed, but, while they had a few hiccups, they were doing pretty well. The time was near.

“Guys, I lost some. I know where they’re going... but I don’t think I have time to round them up again,” Hunk said, his voice was calm and low.

“Where are they going, Hunk?” Shiro asked, still trying to evade two destroyers.

“Lance’s..the planet Lance and Keith are on,” Hunk said, a tremble gave his true emotion away. At the mention of the others, the Black Lion chose the opportunity to take a moment and pass some information along. Shiro was suddenly bombarded with emotion and images. Keith’s fear, the Red Lion’s anger at the sight of the enemy ganging up on them.

“They’re trying to coax Keith off of the planet,”  Shiro muttered, wondering if his guess was accurate. Either way, they were surrounded and needed an assist.

“---dins-----------oving into pos-------ortly. As so-------eam sta------ing---------ed to come back to the castle imme-----” Shiro heard Allura’s voice over the intercom. He pulled up and spun, getting a view of the Castle. The beam was up. It was charging.

“Back to the Castle! We’re...out of time,” Shiro said solemnly.

“Right,” Pidge affirmed.

“The sooner the better,” Hunk said before Shiro saw the Yellow Lion cross his line of vision and head back to the Castle. It was clear to Shiro that neither of them had been sent what he had from the Red Lion. Shiro glanced towards the planet, then back to the beam on the Castle. He wouldn’t make it if he tried, he knew it. He still wanted to risk it but the Black Lion convinced him otherwise, purring at his mind, telling him they were strong enough to survive this. Shiro let the words sink in. He had to be a leader, not a friend. He steeled himself, but knew if anything happened to either of them, he was never going to forgive himself. He dropped down from his position and followed the Green and Yellow Lions back to the Castle with the Vereltet still in pursuit.

 

\--------

 

“How’re you doing back there, Lance?” Keith shouted, unintentionally. He was too keyed up on adrenaline to keep up with the gentler tones he had been using earlier.

“Frankly, I’m a little concerned,” Lance shouted back. Keith had strapped him into a lounging seat that was hidden in a compartment in the floor. Lance had made some very indignant noises upon finding out another secret he didn’t know about the Lions. He complained about it as Keith had strapped the IV bags to the backrest as best he could with the Altean tape. He used the last of it to strap Lance’s arms in to keep them from jerking out against the needles.

Keith couldn’t see him, but he was sure Lance was still in a lot of pain. Every jolt must have been sending knives through his body and Keith was not flying at his best because he couldn’t stop worrying about Lance’s condition.

“Keith, keep me updated,” Lance said in a groan after an abrupt shift forward. He must have jostled against the seat too hard.

“Sorry, I’ll try!” Keith said. He was focused on the several enemy ships on his tail. “I think they’re trying to herd us!” He told Lance after he noticed more enemies on either side of the Lion. They weren’t attacking, just keeping him from moving from side to side. “I’m pulling back and moving up, brace for it!” Keith warned before the Lion lurched back, then moved quickly upwards before attempting to flip itself around and head in another direction. A loud crashed filled their ears as something hit them from above. Apparently, they were surrounded in three dimensions. Keith tried again to maneuver away, but the ships tightened in on him, pushing back. Several light thuds were heard all around the Lion’s body as they nudged and grazed them. The Red Lion growled, and Keith could feel it too. Anger and irritation. Neither of them was willing to let these insects get the better of them.

“They’re all over us, why…” Keith sounded tense and cut off his own question to grunt as they nearly sideswiped several more ships. It would have been easier if they were in Hunk’s Lion, or if Lance wasn’t in his condition. If Lance was at full health he would have attempted cutting through them, no hesitation. He enjoyed a challenge.  

“Lance, I gotta get off world. They’re swarming us,” Keith said hesitantly.

“Blue,” Lance said as if Keith needed a reminder. He had promised not to leave Blue behind. He had promised they would steer the enemy away from Blue and come back around to pick the Lion up.

“Lance, if I don’t do it, we’ll be down there with Blue in the same condition. I have to….what’s that?” Keith stopped as something in the distance caught his eye. The Red Lion growled in warning and it echoed through the cockpit.

“Um, I can’t see,” Lance said dryly. “What do you see?” He added. A familiar feeling washed over Keith, something he had felt before. The hairs on his arms were standing on end and his skin felt an uncomfortable itch. He squinted, straining to see exactly what it was they were facing. His eyes widened when he realized what it was.

“Electrical storm...” Keith swallowed hard. His words were shaky, uncertain. They had been all over the system out in space but had been easily avoidable. This one was large, larger than the others, and it was definitely in the planet’s atmosphere. 

“Avoid it!” Lance shouted, tragically unhelpful. They were still victim to the gentle thuds, some of them not as gentle, but they were constant. The ships were leading them right into the storm.

“Keith?” Lance called out, his voice desperate.

“I can’t….they’re on all sides of us, pushing us into it,” Keith knew he sounded frantic, but he couldn’t help it. This was the first situation in which his piloting skills were failing him. He tried to pull up, but he was knocked back down. Thud, thud, thud. He pulled a harsh left, and even harder series of thuds, followed by pained sounds from Lance. Even if he took down an enemy ship in the process, there seemed to be one behind it, pushing back at them.

“You can get us out of this. You're the best pilot, Allura practically said so, remember?” Lance shouted. His voice mirrored Keith’s frantic tone, but there was a confidence in his words. Unfortunately, no amount of optimism was going to get them out of this.

The Red Lion let out some twisted mechanical groan. Keith could read its frustration, its feeling of defeat. His heart was thumping out of his chest. They had minutes, two, maybe three before that cloud enveloped them. Keith’s fingers were twitching. This never happened in flight. He always knew what to do, he always knew where to take the fight. _Think, think think,_ his head repeated the mantra. Or if thinking wasn’t the answer, then maybe his body would kick in and go on autopilot and get them the hell out of this mess. But they didn’t have time for that. Thud. Thud. Thud. Keith shouted out in frustration.

“Keith, buddy, how’re you doing up there?” Lance’s voice was on edge, obviously, but his tone was still comforting. Keith calmed himself. For Lance. Suddenly the Red Lion purred. It flashed ideas into Keith’s mind. Abandonment. Save himself and take Lance back to Blue. Blue would protect them.

“I’m not leaving you,” Keith murmured under his breath. He’d made a decision. “Lance!” Keith shouted. He was up and out of his seat and Lance was tugging at his arms to get out of his chair. Keith was pulling off his chest armor and, upon reaching Lance’s seat, frantically tearing at the tape and straps on Lance.

“What are you doing?” Lance screamed at him. Keith ignored him and continued. More thudding and the Red Lion growled in subdued anger.

“Hold em off!” Keith shouted. The Lion rumbled. Auto-pilot was activated and he knew the Lion was shredding as many ships as it could.

“What are you doing? _Keith?”_ Lance’s arms were free of the tape and he pulled out the IVs a little more recklessly than he should have. He winced in pain as trace amounts of blood trickled from his arms.

“I’m not letting you die again!” Keith said, his mind made up. He was putting the armor on Lance, and for a moment, Lance let him, seemingly dumbfounded as to what Keith’s plans were. It was ill-fitting, loose in some places and tight in others, but it would have to do. The snap of the armor seemed to bring Lance back into the moment. Keith pulled off one of his arm pieces and snapped it onto Lance’s bare arm. He began taking the other one off and Lance grabbed him to stop.

“You’re crazy if you think I’ll leave you here,” Lance shouted over the constant sounds of impacts. THUD. THUD. Keith smiled sadly at those words. They were remarkably similar to what he had said to Allura just hours ago. He sighed and his hands fiddled with the arm-piece as he tried to snap it in place on Lance’s other arm while he tried to fight him. Keith gripped Lance’s wrist and stared at him, forcing tears back.  
“I’m not letting you die again,” Keith’s voice cracked as he repeated the words, and Lance looked at him, pained and helpless. He shook his head.

“Come with me!” Lance said, his own voice on the verge of sobs.

“I can’t leave the Red Lion,” Keith said. He hoisted Lance up again as if he weighed nothing; he could thank the adrenaline for that.

“Why _not_?” Lance was shouting. The Red Lion rumbled. “See! Big Red agrees with me!”

“No, it was telling me it’s time,” Keith said, walking to the mouth of the Lion. “I’m not important, this Lion is. I’m going to do whatever I can to keep it out of enemy hands,” Keith said, his tone soberer than he felt.  

“Keith! You don’t even know what you’re doing! Please! You don’t know what's gonna happen in there!” Lance was shouting, trying to fight against Keith’s arms, but in his weakened state, it was merely an inconvenience as Keith carried him down the ramp. “You’re throwing a dying man with a broken leg out of a ship! Please think this through!” Lance’s last-ditch attempt to talk Keith out of what he was doing.

“Get to Blue. Blue will protect you,” Keith said, suddenly finding a calmness. “ _Don’t die_ ,” Keith said. Lance grasped at him desperately, grabbing onto him tightly, trying not to let him go. Keith pushed into the embrace for a moment, before easily grabbing Lance’s arms from around his body and starting up the jetpack. “Don’t die!” Keith said again before pushing Lance from the ramp.

 

\--------

 

Lance gripped hard on Keith’s wrist, and the red paladin stumbled into him. Keith barely grabbed onto a part of the Lion in time to pull them back safely. Lance gripped onto him tightly, standing on one leg. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Keith asked, angrily.

“I’m not going without you,” Lance said simply. It wasn’t an argument he was going to have.

“We’re not going to make it out of this alive, Lance,” Keith said, his voice was desperate. Lance shook his head. He pushed his body forward.

“I’m getting pretty good at not dying,” Lance said. Death had been chasing him closely since he left Earth and somehow he managed to always barely escape its clutches. “So stick with me.” He was lying through his teeth, of course. There was no possible way out of this and they both knew it. Keith’s body sagged in defeat. He turned off the jets and pulled Lance’s arm over his shoulder and they walked back up the ramp and into the Lion. The Red Lion growled, disapproving, but Lance could hardly be bothered to care. They were, in all likelihood, going to be leaving this realm of existence very soon. Lance realized that the thought was getting easier to swallow each time he had it. He grimaced as Keith sat him in the chair. He held tightly onto Lance’s hand for a moment. It would be any minute now that the Red Lion would be swallowed up. Still, it was fighting to the last.

It had taken down at least ten ships since they realized what was happening. Lance had to hand it to the Red Lion, it was scrappy as hell. Keith finally let go of Lance’s hand to return to the pilot’s seat. Lance wasn’t sure whether strapping in mattered or not. He had no idea what was waiting for them in the storm. Keith took back control and made last ditch attempts at escape. He swerved, he pushed back. But each time he did he was pushed harder in the opposite direction.

“It’s been..an honor flying with you, Lance,” Keith said, his voice dripping with remorse. Lance swallowed his own words, not sure what to say. They were about to be fried to death, what would one say to that?

“Yeah,” Lance managed. His focus was on the impending storm. Up close, the cloud didn’t look like a cloud at all. It looked like a huge swarm of insects.

Keith’s survival fighting instincts swept over him again and he had the Lion swipe at it, as if though it were something that could be torn apart. Instead, there were tiny explosions of sparks all over the Red Lion’s arm. Lance could hear electrical popping, and crackling. Sparks were flying in the cockpit. Electric wisps fried the control panel. Keith shouted as he pulled his hand away.

“Get away from there!” Lance screamed, his breaths heavy. It didn’t matter. Keith could move back to him and it would prolong his life by maybe seconds more. But Keith stood on Lance’s command and made ready to run to Lance before he was taken in by a wall of sparks and electricity that pulsed into the Lion.

“Keith!” Lance reached out for him without thought. His arm couldn’t reach him but he felt the need to go to him as Keith’s entire body shuddered from the electric shock. Smoke was rising off of his shoulders, his arms, everything. Lance wanted nothing more than to be there with him, going through it, because dying would be preferable to having to witness Keith dying in such a horrific way. He wanted to look away but he couldn’t. A sense of loyalty or maybe paralysis, but Lance didn’t want Keith to feel alone if he could feel anything other than the electrical currents attacking his body. He was watching the wall move towards him slowly, and then it was gone.

A noise overwhelmed the Lion. He thought it was the Red Lion, maybe saying goodbye to them, but it didn’t sound like anything he heard from the Lions before. In fact, Lance wasn’t even sure it was a noise. It was more like...a feeling? Pressure against his body and he could almost swear he felt his hair ruffle in a sudden breeze. A wave that pushed out and over and then it was gone along with the coils of electricity surging through the cockpit. And when he looked through the panes of the Lion’s eyes, the cloud was gone too. For a brief moment, the Lion, Lance, even Keith, were all floating serenely. Then they tumbled down.

“What? Keith? Can you hear me?” Lance shouted as Keith’s body slumped to the ground before sliding down as the Lion tipped down in midair and was being pulled down to the planet.

“No, no no,” Lance was murmuring to himself. All the systems were failing. No alarms were blaring, the Red Lion was completely out of commission. He caught a glimpse out of the Lion’s eyes and noticed they weren’t the only ones falling from the sky. Several Galra ships were falling around them like the world’s worst storm. “What the heck…” Lance murmured to himself before Keith’s body flew up and hit him as the Lion continued to tumble. The pain resonated through his entire body. Keith definitely hit something he shouldn’t have. Lance reached out, grabbing the body, but being pulled with it as it flew down. Lance quickly tried to power the jetpack, but nothing. “Not now! _Not now_!” Lance let out a strangled shout through clenched teeth. It worked the second time and Lance was able to soften their blow against the stern of the Lion. This scene was all too familiar, and he was only holding it together at all because he had to worry about Keith. Lance latched his good foot into something and manipulated the output of the jets to carry them for a moment.

He looked down at Keith’s face and saw the burn marks. His breath got lost in his chest for a moment. Keith was definitely unconscious, not dead. _Unconscious_. Lance forced himself to feel his pulse at his neck, noting there was a beat; slow, but it existed. He pulled his fingers away and found them wet with blood and blistered skin. Lance swallowed, praying he didn’t get sick all over Keith.

He wished Keith was awake. He didn’t want to have to go through this experience alone, again; falling to a planet at full speed inside of a giant magical robot Lion. He had barely made it through the first time without the stress and fear giving him a massive coronary. Lance unlatched his foot, trying to steer around the parts of the ship with Keith as dead weight in his arms. He had no idea how much time they had left and wasn’t sure he could make it to the mouth of the Lion. It wasn’t open anyway, and likely wasn’t going to with Big Red in her current state.

Instead, he steered the jetpack up higher. It was a blessing but terrifying when he realized he couldn’t feel his broken leg anymore. It was banging against the inside of the Lion, against dislodged panels.

There were still sparks flying from the damage to the control panel, and Lance definitely wanted to avoid that, but it was hard to maneuver with a limp, heavy body in his arms. He reached for the pilot’s seat and gripped it tightly, with Keith pressed between him and the backrest. The Lion shuddered around him and all that was left for him to do was wait and hope his timing had improved since his training started. Lance watched all the electronics in the Lion go haywire, sparking, heating. He wasn’t sure how much of that was due to friction and heat from the fall and what parts of it were due to the electric swarm.

Lance took a minute to breathe. His head was still pounding. His body still ached, which was putting it mildly, but he didn’t want to dwell on that in his final moments if that’s what these were. He tried to focus on how far he’d come, and the things he’d done with his life. Not the perfect life, and by no means devoid of mistakes, but it was something he could be proud of, he thought. He had done all he could, with what he had been given, he knew that much. Lance felt hot tears running down his cheeks and looked down at the top of Keith’s head. He would definitely regret that Keith had to be here with him; to die like this. It wasn’t exactly heroic. Keith deserved a better death. Lance quickly pressed his lips to the top of Keith’s head and silently wished him better in the next life. The Lion was shaking rapidly now, and his grip slipped from the seat as the tail of the Lion made impact with the terrain.

 

\--------

 

“Did it work?” Pidge asked, delirious with impatience. They looked at the screens. Any interference they had been dealing with had cleared up and the screens relayed visuals of the enemy ships that had become stationary or combusted from the pulse.

“I believe so,” Allura said, studying the pictures carefully.

“We gotta go,” they heard Shiro over his communicator. He hadn’t left the Black Lion since they all reached the Castle again.

“What is it?” Hunk asked. Shiro’s tone had sent a chill down his spine.

“They’re in trouble. We gotta go _now._ ” There was no argument in his voice, just a statement of facts.

“How do you know?” Pidge asked, already making their way to the Green Lion without hesitation.

“The Black Lion..showed me. Everything. The Red Lion..is down,” Shiro’s voice was worn and weak and faltering with regret.

“We’re going down with you,” Allura said. None of them could bear to put it off any longer. If the pulse worked, there would be no danger, and if it had not, then they’d find a way around it. The entire team was teeming with nervous energy, and it was frankly a feat in of itself that they had held it together long enough without Keith and Lance at their sides.

“Get to your Lions: Pidge, Hunk. I’m going ahead,” Shiro said.

 

\--------

 

The ringing in his ears was starting to become way too normal for Lance’s liking. He blinked in rapid succession, but it was too dark wherever they were. They? His hands gripped around something. What was it? Lance would have sighed in relief if they were in a position to be relieved. Keith was on top of him, crushing his body into the debris of what he assumed was the Red Lion. Or maybe this was purgatory or Hell. Just dark and pain for eternity.

“Keith?” His voice was gravely and unfamiliar to him. He wasn’t surprised. He had felt detached from the concept of his body since initial crash with Blue. He tried to clear his throat but the action hurt more than it should have. “Keith,” he said again, quietly.

He shifted slightly and tried to push Keith off of him and to the side. He couldn’t breathe, but his arms were weak. Suddenly he heard something. A grunt. From Keith.

“Keith!” Lance would have shouted, but it came out as more of a strangled whisper. Keith slowly moved over Lance, attempting to find his bearings. Lance felt Keith’s body stiffen as he became aware of his surroundings and his breathing picked up involuntarily. A low rumbling noise was emerging from Keith's throat and Lance was sure it was Keith's attempts at pained shouting.  
“Keith, I’m here. I’m here, Keith, try to slow your breathing,” Lance resisted putting a hand on his face to comfort him. With his burns, he was sure that would only do more damage than good. “You’ll be fine, I’m with you Keith,” Lance hated how weak his own voice sounded. His voice was usually a driving force, one that was hard to ignore. Right now it was barely audible and likely not helping to instill a sense of calm into his friend. Lance placed a gentle hand on Keith’s..back, he hoped. It was too dark to tell. Keith hissed in pain and Lance lifted his hand away. But shortly after, Keith’s breathing began to steady and the terrible noise he was making came to a halt.

“Where?” The words came from Keith, but his throat sounded decimated. It was just a garbled version of what Lance knew as Keith’s voice.  
“We’re on the planet. I think?” Lance whispered, not sure if that’s what Keith meant with his question. Keith began slowly shifting. His arms pushed away from Lance as he tried to figure out the surrounding area. He let out involuntary whimpers with each movement. They were in the Red Lion, surrounded-- maybe buried-- in debris. Finally, Keith rolled to Lance’s side with a final whimper and Lance inhaled deeply, tears streaming from his eyes at the pain that accompanied the breath.

“How?” Another garbled question from Keith. Lance’s vision was starting to adjust to the darkness, and he could make out the shape of Keith’s body.

“I..don’t know. We just...fell,” Lance breathed out. Something wasn’t right about Keith’s body. The shape of it was off. Lance shuddered.

“Red…” Another quiet, gravelly squeak of a word from Keith.

“Out..for now. Doubt Big Red’ll stay down for long, though,” Lance said. Keith merely grunted a reply. Lance sat in the dark, silent, listening for a moment. Keith’s breathing was wet, gurgling, and shallow.

“We just gotta wait now,” Lance murmured to him. “So...hold on.”

“Something im...paled. My side,” Keith grunted out. Lance could hear his shifting and see his arms moving.

“Just..gotta wait, Keith. They’re coming for us. I know it,” Lance said. He sat uncomfortably still, but it was better than the discomfort of moving. He really, really wanted to sleep. Without warning Keith’s arm gently rested on his chest. Lance glanced in his general direction.

“Your hand?” Keith managed. Lance’s heart fell slightly. Tears were forcing themselves out of the corners of his eyes. He grabbed the hand as tightly as he could. Keith groaned and Lance loosened his grip, but Keith tightened his own. “I’m tired, Lance,” Keith whispered.

“Well, we can’t..sleep. So let’s chat,” Lance said, coughing out the last of his words. “What do you like best about me?” Lance tried to laugh, but instead his stomach merely lifted with his huffs of breaths that passed as laughter for the time being. Honestly, Lance wanted Keith to keep talking to make sure he didn't suddenly pass out, or worse.

“Lance!” Lance attempted a grin when he heard his name. Even in his state, Keith could manage to sound pissed at Lance.

“I wanna know. Tell me, and I’ll tell you,” Lance murmured. His eyelids grew heavy. “Please,” he added to sweeten his request. He closed his eyes. Just resting them a bit.

“Idiot,” Keith said. After that, there was silence for a moment, and Lance’s heartbeat quickened, but the grip on his hand was still tight. “You’re brave,” Keith said suddenly. Lance might have raised an eyebrow, though at that point he had no idea if his body was still following his reflexes.

“Hmm?” Lance hummed.

“Brave. Empathy, you. Your smile is...ridiculous,” Keith mumbled the words, and they smashed together, but Lance could make it out.

“Hey,” Lance said in protest.

“Good. It’s bright. Ridiculous good. How do you smile so...big?” Lance wanted to laugh, but the words were too innocent and he didn’t have the heart, nor the energy.

“Yeah. It’s a good one. What else?” Lance said. He was listening to his own heartbeat now. Very slow, but steady. His grip stayed on Keith’s hand.

“When you...don’t try, you’re charming. Your integrity...and strength. You made me happy..these last..few…..” Keith was still speaking but Lance was out cold.

 

\--------

 

Garbled voices and ringing. Banging noises in the distance. _Open your eyes._ The words were from Lance’s mind, somewhere that was still active, still trying to keep him alive for some reason. His body obeyed, but it was still dark. He blinked rapidly. He was still in the dark of the Red Lion, but light was coming through from somewhere now. More banging.

“Guys!” Lance tried to shout, but his voice was shot. He strained to listen and heard familiar voices in the distance. Shiro, Hunk, Allura were the ones he made out right away. His hand shook. His fingers were interlocked with Keith’s. Keith.

“Keith, they’re here. They’ve found us,” his voice was barely a whisper anymore. He shook Keith’s arm that was in his hand. It was cool at the touch. “Keith, they’re..they’re here,” Lance whispered. He continued shaking the hand. When that didn’t rouse him, he shifted to bring his free hand to Keith’s face. He touched two fingers to his jaw before pulling away at the cold skin. “Keith!” Lance’s eyes were blurring with tears. “Keith!” Lance placed the fingers against Keith’s neck. No pulse. “Keith, they’re here. They’re here!” Lance wasn’t sure the words were coming out as he said them. There was nothing in his voice. He was choking. Warm tears streamed down his cheeks. Suddenly there was another series of loud bangs and then a light shining on Lance’s body.

“They’re here!” Shiro shouted. “Lance! Keith!” He shouted again.

“Keith!” Lance repeated. No other words seemed to come to mind. He shook the hand in his some more, and Keith’s head slumped to his side. “No, Keith. They’re here. Keith, they’re right here!” Shiro reached him.

“Lance...Keith,” he said breathlessly. He looked over Lance’s body and then over at Keith. “Hunk, get over here now! I need you to grab Lance!” Lance heard the panic in Shiro’s voice. It was easy to tune into because Shiro almost never panicked. It was so distinct.

“Keith. Keith, help him!” Lance tried to shout. Shiro was pulling his body up from the debris and Lance struggled for a moment, unwilling to let go of Keith’s hand.

“Lance, I need to pass you to Hunk. We need to get you out of here. The Castle’s outside,” Shiro was saying in a cracked voice.

“Keith! Help him, Shiro. You gotta help Keith!” Lance wondered if anyone could even hear him. He could barely hear himself. Shiro let out a shuddered breath and looked away from Lance, towards Keith.

“I’m going to, Lance,” Shiro said. In the next instant he was in familiar arms. Hunk was carrying him as if he weighed nothing, and his hand was finally pulled from Keith’s grasp.

“Keith,” Lance whimpered. “Keith.” He noticed Shiro’s posture, defeated and sullen. He felt Hunk stiffen when he looked over in the direction he’d just been pulled from.

“No,” he muttered under his breath.

“Get Lance to the Castle, Hunk,” Shiro said, voice cracking in every word.

“Keith, wait! Keith!” Lance was shrieking in whispers. He watched Shiro bend over Keith’s body before Hunk turned him around and began taking him from the ship. The floods of emotional and physical pain were overwhelming Lance. He felt his chest tighten and a familiar feeling came over him. He welcomed the coming bout of unconsciousness as his body went into shock for the second time.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry :(
> 
> (Also as a side note , Lance stubbornly refers to the Blue Lion as a "he" )
> 
> I edited this a few times, but there still might be typos and confusing sentences. Sorry if that is the case!  
> Also the next chapter is the last so I'll try my hardest to get it out ASAP!


	15. Remorse, Reaction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I lied! It was just too long to fit into one chapter, so there is one more after this one! My apologies! Also, more apologies because this probably isn't as edited as it needs to be! 
> 
> My mood music for this chapter:  
> [Kodaline-All I Want](https://youtu.be/n6BwAWiHcSg?list=PLo3rMZURLg4Gs-4UL0Q9duLAWRas76_0f)

Lance felt his feet first. A tingle that turned into a shudder that ran up his entire body, forcing an exhale from his lips with Keith’s name on it. He recognized the smell and the cold and his eyes shot open. He saw the remnants of his breath fogged on the pod’s glass before it slid open and he attempted to shuffle out. He was stiff; much stiffer than the last time he had been in one of these. Last time he was quite rubbery, in fact. He looked down at his legs and saw that the broken one was now in a high-tech brace, courtesy of Altean science. 

He knew where he was, despite it feeling like mere moments had passed since he had been rescued from the dark with...Keith. Keith! Lance’s eyes came into a slow focus that one adjusts to after a long sleep. Pidge was curled up against the steps, laptop at her side, sleeping soundly. Lance looked around the room carefully. Another pod was up and his heartbeat picked up. He shuffled over to it as fast as he could with his braced leg weighing down his normal gait. The smile was ready on his lips but when he reached the pod it was empty. 

Frustration and worry set in and he shuffled to the next pod station and pulled it up, hoping to see a familiar face inside. It was just as empty as the other one. He moved on to the next one, pulled it up and waited, tapping his fingers impatiently on his thighs. Empty. On to the next. Lance felt his nose sting as he fought back the urge to tear up or shout.

He heard Pidge yawn as he reached the second to last station. 

“Lance!” He heard from behind. Pidge’s voice sounded a mixture of tired and excited, but he ignored it for a moment longer and checked the final station. “Lance? What are you doing?” Pidge walked up to him and lightly grabbed his wrist. He turned to face her and immediately noticed the red, puffy eyes behind the glasses. Pidge had a weak smile ready for him. “You’re awake!” Pidge said, as cheerful as a groggy person could sound. 

“Where’s Keith?” Lance asked immediately. He would commence with the pleasantries as soon as he knew Keith was okay. But his words seemed to erase any presence of cheerfulness Pidge had. The smile turned into quivering lips that spread to the jaw and Pidge’s eyes shifted away from Lance, already welling with thick tears. “Pidge?” Lance’s voice cracked and he grabbed onto his small friend’s shoulders to hold himself up. His anxiety was turning into nausea and his heart pounded against his ribs. 

“He…” Pidge started before inhaling several times to stifle a cry. “He had complications. He was dead, but Shiro and Coran, they...they brought him back.” Everything Pidge was saying was through small sobs and cracked words. Lance’s chest was so tight, he couldn’t breathe anymore. “But, he wouldn’t wake up. They did...neurological tests, but they were..inconclusive.” 

“What are you saying, Pidge? Is he…” Lance couldn’t even say it. The words died in his throat, being swallowed up by the hollow feeling that was suddenly taking over his entire body.

“He’s in a coma, technically. But it doesn’t look good. Coran set him up in one of those extraction pods. He wired it to act like a healing pod, sort of? But….he’s been um...uploading his memories? Onto the ship..in case,” Pidge said, unable to speak anymore, grabbing onto Lance’s waist and crying into his chest. 

Lance’s arms felt like jelly at his sides, but he managed to bring them up to wrap around Pidge’s shoulders. It was almost a reflex, growing up in a household like his. He knew he was crying too, but his body wasn’t going through the usual process. He was numb, and the only physical indicator of his emotions was the heat of the tears that dripped down his cheeks. 

“I’m sorry,” Pidge said in an abrupt sob, her cries growing in intensity. Pidge’s grip tightened and Lance pulled the fluffy head into him. 

“Pidge?” Lance murmured, unsure as to what Pidge was apologizing for. There was nothing that could be done; at least not by the others. He would always wonder what more  _ he _ could have done to save Keith.

“Something was wrong, and none of us..we didn’t even  _ ask _ you. We just assumed you’d be fine because you’re  _ Lance _ ! But, you  _ always _ ask us if we’re okay but we didn’t even ask you! And the last conversation we had I was just making fun of you so much, and what if that had been the last thing I said to you, Lance?” Pidge’s voice trembled and squeaked every word out with urgency. He was somewhat stunned by the emotional reaction coming from Pidge. Pidge had put on such a brave face since they left Earth; even when met with dubious news about the Holts. Pidge was one tough little cookie in Lance’s book. Seeing Pidge in this state was almost confusing.

But, if Lance had mastered anything in his seventeen years of life, it would have been smiling. He had a smile for every occasion. Even now, with his heart sunken into depths he wasn’t ready to explore, he had a warm smile ready for Pidge. He ruffled Pidge’s hair lightly.

“So you  _ do _ have a heart under all that sarcasm,” Lance said softly. 

“Lance!” Pidge shouted in another trembling squeak, on the verge or more tears. 

“Hey. Hey, it’s okay. Pidge,” Lance said. “I was going through some stuff, and I don’t know if I would have been honest about it anyway.” Lance’s last words shook in his throat as memories of opening up to Keith edged their way into the corners of his mind. Pidge sniffled into his chest and he could feel the wetness from the tears soaking through his pod suit. “And about that other stuff, I know your love for me is so overwhelming that it comes out in strange ways, like sass or insults.” Lance felt Pidge’s small fist hit him lightly in the side before wrapping around his waist again. They stood silently for a few moments before Pidge finally pulled back and wiped the tears away from her eyes.  

“Can you take me..to see him? Keith.” He hadn’t planned on asking it, but the words fell from his mouth in a strange desperation. Pidge’s lips quivered, another frown forming, but nodded and grabbed Lance’s hand to help him walk. 

It was a slow, silent trek. Lance’s thoughts were divergent and numerous. It was as though he had only seen Keith minutes earlier, trapped with him in the dark, skin burned and bleeding. His heart ached at the imagery his mind conjured. He wasn’t sure he could even handle seeing Keith like that again. Yet it was somehow easier to picture him that way than to remember him as he normally looked because it only opened a Pandora’s box of Keith’s face and expressions that Lance had imprinted in his mind over the past months. It was just too damn painful. 

They were making their way down the final corridor, where the extraction pods were stationed, and Lance felt his heart tremor. He felt suffocated suddenly and squeezed Pidge’s hand for comfort and in hopes that it might somehow ground him to the present and not let him get sucked down a black hole of grief as he was prone to do when in such a heightened emotional state. He was honestly surprised he wasn’t lying face down in the healing pod room, crying into the floor uncontrollably. He could be proud of that, he supposed.

“So where..is everyone?” Lance asked, enabling small talk for a chance to calm his nerves in the slightest. Not to mention it was strange not to be crowded and hugged by Hunk when coming out of a healing pod. 

“We had tried to time it better, but uh, it couldn’t be helped. Allura has us systematically eradicating any trace of those Vereltet,” Pidge said. 

“Verel..tet? What?” Lance asked. 

“Oh, those..machines. The enemies. They were little...mechanical nano-creatures, sort of. We were able to scoop up a few from the ship you downed back on that planet. Allura and Coran and Hunk were able to engineer a new scanner that can pick up the signals of those things. Hunk and Shiro are out now, doing some sweeping. We’ve been at it for nearly two weeks,” Pidge said.

“I’ve been out that long?” Lance asked. It was only then that he realized he hadn’t asked it sooner with Keith being the first thing on his mind. 

“Yeah. You were...well you needed a lot of internal repairs, Coran said. He said you should have bled out. He was asking a lot of questions on human anatomy after that,” Pidge forced a smile. 

“Keith gave me a transfusion. I died, I think, but he saved my life,” Lance mumbled. Each word was like a needle prick in his heart. 

“Wow,” Pidge merely muttered. They were walking up on the extraction pods and Lance could already make out Keith’s form in one of them. 

Lance already felt his steps wavering and slowing as he got closer to the pods. He looked to the smaller tube to the side where the extraction was taking place. Keith’s..essence or memories were filling the tube. They looked like hundreds of little droplets of starlight. The majority seemed settled in a red hue, but a few other colors danced around in the tube as well. Finally, he looked over and let his eyes settle on Keith. 

His body felt glued to the spot, heavy and unfamiliar. Keith mostly looked like himself. His skin was paler, giving off an eerie waxy look when surrounded by the turquoise light of the pod. The circles under his eyes were darker and his cheeks were gaunter than Lance could ever remember seeing them. The scarring from the burns was almost entirely gone. Only faded red marks that looked like lightning traveling down his face were left. Keith’s hair was dull and clinging to his face. Lance stumbled to the glass tube in which Keith was currently residing and placed a hand against it. 

“Keith,” Lance mumbled under his breath. He wondered if Keith could hear him. He wondered if Keith was even home anymore, or if that body was just a shell that looked like his friend. Lance turned to Pidge. 

“So he’s on..life support?” Lance asked quietly, not completely understanding the medicine behind it all. 

“Technically? The initial stint in the healing pod repaired the majority of the damage. They even put him in this thing that looked like a hyperbaric chamber, but it covered him in this...solution and seeped into his skin, healing his burns and wounds.” Pidge’s voice cracked slightly and Lance wondered how much of this Pidge had witnessed firsthand. “Technically his body is..recovered? He had less damage than you, but he did technically die,” Pidge was sniffing again, and very obviously stifling more crying. “They don’t know. His scans aren’t showing brain damage, but there’s not activity either, that’s why he’s here.” Pidge wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her sweater. 

“So he’ll be stored onto the ship...” Lance said quietly, looking back to Keith, exhaling sharply through his nose, trying not to let Pidge’s crying become contagious. Lance wondered how a computer-Keith would be. He had never really got to see Alfor’s image, (his data?) aside from when he was attacking the castle. How would the paladins interact with Keith if he was just made up of memories and ideas? Would he be able to form new memories? Would he be able to grow with them? Lance felt tears sting his eyes at the idea of Keith not continuing his journey. He was only seventeen, and it was unfair that the last information that would make up who he was as a person ended in the dark, broken Red Lion. 

“I’m going to go tell the others you’re awake,” Pidge said hurriedly. Lance could tell Pidge didn’t want to be around Keith like this; if the outburst about his condition earlier was any indication. Keith’s bonds with the other paladins were subtle, but his fondness for Pidge had been something he expressed uniquely. And Pidge was already wrought with worry over her missing brother and father, losing a friend on top of that was a lot for someone so young to handle.

Lance knew the loss was hard for any of them to take. The crew, despite their differences and squabbling and newness, had been the only family any of them had known for months. And now it was very likely a member of their family was gone. Lance’s face twisted morosely as the thought crossed his mind. He was too empty to feel hopeful anymore. His regret slithered through his body like a slug, leaving a trail of heartache in its wake. Because the one thing he had needed with Keith was more time. He rested his forehead against the glass and shut his eyes. 

 

\--------

 

Lance was not the type of person to deny himself anything. If he wanted something he always went after it. But with Keith it had been different, because it took him a while to realize what exactly Keith was to him. The grudge that had boiled under his skin since Lance had met him had thrown him off because it had been such a visceral reaction. From day one he thought he hated the guy. From day one he wanted to get the better of him. 

But Lance didn’t hold grudges, not really. And he didn’t hate people that hadn’t significantly transgressed upon him or his loved ones, so it didn’t exactly make sense for him to hate Keith. But, from day one Keith was an itch that he desperately needed to scratch, and if that’s what he wanted he was going after it, no holding back.

He never pinpointed the exact moment it changed. The feelings of irritation and anger that swam through him when he saw Keith had transformed into something else. He didn’t remember when he realized he never really hated Keith at all. 

He found himself seeking out Keith to bother him. He still liked challenging him, still liked pushing his buttons and forcing him into silly bickering matches, but there was no malicious reasoning for it. It just made him happy. But that wasn’t all there was to it. He wanted to soften Keith’s edges, figure out what was behind those enigmatic purple eyes that glared at the world. He wanted to make Keith smile; to make him laugh. 

In the past, he had known what that meant. But this was new. Lance wasn’t exactly opposed to the idea of being interested in men; he always figured he fell somewhere towards the middle of some make-believe spectrum when his eyes would linger too long at a model in a magazine or some handsome waiter or barista would catch him off guard and he’d need a moment to collect himself. But this was different. It involved emotions, not just attraction. And it was Keith. And they were paladins, Defenders of the Universe at war with an evil empire. 

So he tried to keep the feelings and thoughts at bay and push them down and make them inaccessible. Because there wasn’t time to figure these things out. He had more important things he had to concentrate on. It  _ definitely  _ wasn’t time to figure out if you had romantic feelings for a member of your team when that team member would likely recoil at the idea after having had to put up with your less than stellar behavior. A part of Lance knew it was a hopeless cause to repress anything because his emotions were always on display. If he had to keep his true feelings close to the vest it tended to manifest in other ugly ways; which happened to account for a lot of the confrontations he had forced with Keith. 

Then a strange thing happened, and Keith had offered to help Lance train and it was like an epiphany that pulsed through him. Because Keith had come to him of his own will and opened up a new bridge between them, and Lance was practically running across it at top speed with arms open. No more confusion; diagnosis was in and he had it  _ bad _ . But Lance figured there was no need to rush it, he would just wait it out; wait for an opportunity. They were still teammates on a mission after all. If he went along with his usual methods of trying to wile his way into a heart, he was sure it would push Keith away or at the very least, it would result in his own feelings being hurt. 

If he had known that he only had five days left with Keith, he would have blurted every silly, romantic, burning thought that had come to mind when he looked at him. He would have held nothing back because then he would not be looking at the object of his affection on the other side of thick glass. Keith was here because of him; because he made a stupid decision and instead of it backfiring on himself--which he could live with--it cut short a promising life--which he was very sure he could not live with. Lance’s entire body seemed to heave with regret and guilt. 

 

\--------

 

He didn’t know how long he had been standing there, forehead to glass, tears pooling and receding. He was torn between falling apart at any second and holding it back because he didn’t deserve to hurt because he hadn’t been honest and it had cost Keith everything. 

“Lance!” Shiro’s voice had never sounded so foreign to Lance. It startled him and he nearly slipped down the side of Keith’s pod. Lance looked over and Shiro’s face matched his voice. He had stubble on his (usually smooth) face, puffy bags under his red-rimmed eyes. Still, there was a familiarity to him, because he was still trying to hold it together like he always was, and wrapping it all up with his warm smile. But his eyes definitely betrayed him. Lance knew that Shiro would be feeling the loss of Keith more than anyone else on the ship, and that was saying a lot because they were all probably heartbroken. Lance only shook his head at Shiro. He didn’t want to see his warm smile because he knew exactly what it covered up. 

Lance said nothing, knowing a single word would pull the plug on everything he was holding inside. Shiro continued walking towards him and Lance stood back and away from the pod. Shiro’s eyes briefly fell on Keith, then to the monitoring system beside the pod before resting back on Lance. 

“Pidge said you were up!” Shiro said into the silence before approaching Lance and wrapping his arms around him. Lance was slightly taken aback by the action, though he didn’t know why when Shiro was exactly the kind of guy who would greet him with a hug after such an horrific experience. The hug was warm and the pressure against his body was a welcome comfort. His arms moved to hug Shiro back, and it was only then that he noticed his hands trembling. Lance pulled away and wiped the misting tears from his eyes. 

“How’re you holding up?” He asked Shiro before Shiro could ask him. 

“Me? What about you? You just--” Shiro started. Lance cut him off. 

“I can’t...talk about me. Not right now,” Lance said brusquely. He looked up at Shiro’s face, finally braving eye contact. He immediately wished he hadn’t. Shiro wasn’t wearing a look of pity or support, but his eyes were searching. Looking to Lance for answers that Lance was not emotionally able to give to him. It was a tortured look and Lance felt another pang of guilt well up inside him. 

“I’m sorry,” Lance’s voice broke up. Shiro placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s okay, Lance. You don’t have to talk about it now,” Shiro’s voice was rough, but sincere. Lance merely nodded in response, though he was sure Shiro had missed exactly what he was apologizing for, but perhaps it was for the best. “I’m doing about as well as can be expected,” he added. Lance looked up at him, surprised at the honesty. Shiro was not the type to lie, but he was definitely the type to put all his personal problems and issues on the back burner for the sake of the team. He had rarely commented on his own well-being in the past. Lance nodded, unsure of what to say.

He didn’t know the history between Shiro and Keith entirely, aside from the fact that Shiro was definitely Keith’s mentor, and possibly had been before Keith was in the Garrison. They seemed to have a longer history than just teacher/student, but maybe not. It was easy to connect and befriend a man like Shiro. Even for someone as closed off as Keith, Lance supposed. But Shiro had to be feeling Keith’s loss more than the rest of them. On top of losing yet another crew member, it was someone who he had a history with, someone he had watched grow up. Lance clutched at his chest, feeling overly emotional again. 

“We should get you some food, and rest,” Shiro said, the cracking in his voice slowly smoothed out as he spoke. “Hunk threw something together as soon as he got back on board. Says he’s been saving it.” Shiro said with his warm Shiro smile. Lance grimaced and turned away from the pods and looked down the corridor. 

“I’m not really hungry. I wanna see Blue,” Lance said, shifting focus. If he thought about Keith any longer he was definitely going to lose it and didn’t want to do that in front of Shiro. He’d save it for his room when he was alone. 

“Oh,” Shiro said, sounding nervous suddenly. 

“What? You guys did get Blue, right? I mean no way Allura would leave them out there…” Lance was speaking too quickly, on the verge of panic. Shiro grabbed his shoulders to steady him.

“Lance, Lance, Blue is in the hangar,” Shiro was using his most calming tone, and it was working to soothe Lance’s brief terror. “It’s just that...well, it hasn’t been operational since we got back. Coran has been busy with you and..Keith. He’s had little time to repair the Lions.” Lance’s heart sunk slightly. He had hoped to at least have Blue’s comfort at the back of his mind. If someone had told him a few months ago that he would be missing the telepathic connection of a magical blue robot lion, well, he would have said that would be pretty cool. But the fact remained that he never realized how important the connection with Blue had become to him. 

“I’d still like to---” Lance began but was cut off by the loudest shout he had heard in quite some time.

“Lance!” Hunk was jogging towards them and Lance braced himself for a crushing hug. Hunk’s face was already soaking with endless tears and he picked Lance up and spun him around. 

“I missed you too, Hunk,” Lance said, though he supposed that was not entirely true. His thoughts of Hunk as he thought he was dying were more on the idea of missing Hunk, in the future. To him, he had seen Hunk an hour ago, as he carried him away from... 

But it was a very long hour, and he didn’t mind being wrapped in Hunk’s arms again, even if by scientific standards he could no longer breathe. Hunk put him back down on the ground and glanced around the room.    
“Shiro, Allura was asking for you. Sounded kind of serious,” Hunk said, his voicing taking a more serious tone for a moment before perking up again as he focused on Lance. 

“I’m so happy to see you I have so much to tell you also I have food for you if you’re hungry.” Hunk’s non-stop run-on sentence was oddly comforting to Lance. It was the first bit of normal he felt since he left on the Voltron mission. Shiro waved a quick goodbye before excusing himself. Hunk was still talking and Lance honestly couldn’t keep up with the shape his mind was in. His body was stiff, but his mind was slowly shifting into jello. 

“Hunk..Hunk. Hey, um, I’m not hungry, and I’m a little out of it,” Lance finally got a word in.

“Oh, sorry, I’m just so happy you’re awake again,” Hunk’s voice trembled and Lance remembered how Hunk had last seen him, convulsing and lifeless in his arms. He wondered if he had died again, but was too scared to ask. 

“It’s fine, dude. Um, would you take me to Blue’s hangar? I wanna see him,” Lance said softly. Hunk looked confused for a moment but nodded all the same. He pulled Lance’s arm over his shoulder and turned down the corridor. He halted, hesitated and turned back towards the pod.    
“See you later, Keith,” he said before starting the pace again. Lance glanced over his shoulder at Keith’s body in the pod, that he had avoided looking at since he first turned away. 

“Do you think he can hear?” Lance mumbled against Hunk’s shoulder. 

“I don’t know. I hope so. I’ve been talking to him a lot. Well, not a  _ lot _ , but enough to let him know I’m thinking of him and hope he comes back to us soon,” Hunk said, not a hint of irony in his tone. Lance gazed at the side of Hunk’s face for a moment as they continued their trek. 

“Pidge said…” Lance’s breathing picked up involuntarily. “It doesn’t look...like he’ll recover,” Lance barely got the words out. Hunk sighed thoughtfully before shaking his head quickly.

“Nah. He’s in there somewhere. He just needs time,” Hunk explained. He looked over at Lance, noticing the cynical expression. “Like, you might think I’m being mushy, or naive but all that he went through to bring you back...I don’t think it was all just for him to end up like this, nah.” 

It didn’t escape Lance’s attention that Hunk seemed much more put together than Shiro or Pidge had been. He didn’t look like he had been losing sleep, and his eyes were not puffy, so he hadn’t been crying. Lance figured it would be the other way around. Even as he spoke, his voice didn’t really tremble or sound falsely confident. It was regular ole, positive ole, determined Hunk. On the one hand, it was comforting and familiar, but on the other hand, Lance was used to seeing Hunk fall apart during times of great duress and this was unusual. No one was this emotionally stable after everything that had happened. 

“I don’t know..what to think about...all of that,” Lance said hesitantly. “But you seem to be handling things pretty well.” Hunk sighed and a weak smiled crossed over his face. 

“I was a wreck the first couple of days after we found you guys. You were in the worst condition. Like, I thought it had been bad when you nearly got blown up by Sendak, but wow. This was so much more..gnarly. And Keith. Well I guess Pidge filled you in? I was carrying you back to the Castle, convulsing in my arms...Shiro was in the Red Lion trying to resuscitate Keith. It was all just..horrible. It was hard for me to deal with, of course it was. But, after all was said and done, we got you to steady, got you in a pod, and Coran and Shiro had gotten Keith’s heart beating again, and I don’t know. I got really calm. Like something in the universe was telling me things would work out.” Hunk’s words edged on emotional, but he didn’t waver in his confident optimism. “I’ve just been holding on to that feeling. Shiro is a wreck about Keith. He’s known him too long to really do anything but grieve. And Pidge feels too pragmatic to feel optimistic. But, so far here  _ you _ are. Now we just gotta wait for Keith.”

Lance wanted to feel uplifted by Hunk’s words, but he was feeling more aligned with both Shiro and Pidge at the moment, if not worse. He had to deal with the grief  _ and _ the guilt. It was too much for him to fight against with just blind optimism at his side. They walked the rest of the way in contemplative silence, though Lance could tell Hunk was holding in a lot of questions and ramblings for his sake. Lance appreciated it and made a note to let Hunk unleash a deluge of chatter later on when he was feeling better. They walked into the Blue Lion’s hangar and Lance only then realized he was still barefoot as he heard his feet slap against the smooth ground, accompanied by the clanking of the brace hitting the floor.  

“Blue.” It was like a frog died in his throat. The word came out so timid and coarse. Lance cleared his throat and Hunk took him to the mouth of the Lion. He looked up the ramp. It was open. 

“Coran’s been doing some work on the inside whenever he had some time to spare,” Hunk explained when he caught wind of Lance’s inquisitive expression. Lance didn’t respond and started walking up the ramp, causing a strange rhythm with his brace and bare feet. Hunk stood outside, giving Lance a moment to be alone with this thoughts and with Blue. 

Lance walked slowly, cautiously, unsure of what state was going to be in once he entered. There were still pulled out panels and hanging wires, but a lot of the debris had been cleared away, and items had been returned to their storage bins, most of which had a dent or two. He slowly limped through the cabin to the cockpit, eyes glued to the floor. His blood was gone. The panes of Blue’s eyes were still cracked, and Lance couldn’t help but flinch. There was no resonating feeling that swallowed him when he walked on board, he was alone in a quiet ship. 

Lance walked over to the control panels and looked around. Nothing was active, so no screens were up, but there seemed to be minimal damage to the hardware. Lance listlessly swiped his hands over the main controls without really thinking about it. He felt a flicker..of something and could swear a blue light flickered on the controls. 

“Blue?” Lance managed to croak out. He closed his eyes, searching for a connection, searching for the gentle pulses that touched his mind whenever Blue was with him. The blue lights flickered again and Lance tilted his head as a gentle purring filled his ears before dropping off again. Lance clutched a fist to his chest and opened his eyes, almost overwhelmed with a feeling of warmth. The smallest hint of a smile formed on his lips. 

“You’ll be okay,” he said under his breath, forcing back a tear. 

“Lance, please make your way to the dining hall!” Allura’s voice filled the hangar and Lance looked out through the windows for a moment more before turning to head back out of Blue. 

Hunk was standing halfway up the ramp, hands in pockets and a patience look on his face. 

“How was it?” He asked softly. 

“Good,” Lance replied barely above a whisper. Hunk smiled and pulled Lance’s arm over his shoulder again. 

“Good,” Hunk replied and started helping him to the dining hall. 

 

\--------

 

Lance was met with the entirety of the crew--obviously minus Keith, which was sorely noted--when he and Hunk made it to the dining hall. Allura was able to hold it together for a few moments before tears fell from her eyes and she smiled and laughed and hugged Lance, which surprised him entirely as Allura had always been at arm’s length from Lance. Not that he blamed her; he had given her every reason to be wary of him. But that didn’t seem to matter to her now. She spoke gently, telling him how happy she was to see him recovered and walking around again. How the Castle was far too silent without him around. The others laughed, agreeing, and Lance couldn’t help but smile. 

Coran was worse. He was blubbering from the get go, covering his face with his forearm and promising he’d pull himself together, only to sob again. Lance was the one who had to eventually calm him down and ask him if he was okay. Coran repeated that he was merely relieved to see Lance okay again, that he had missed his adolescent behavior and silly shenanigans. Lance wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not, but Coran being so overwhelmed to see him again more than assured him it didn’t matter. 

Pidge hugged Lance tightly again, simply saying it was good to have him back. Shiro merely cupped his neck before ruffling his hair, making some remark about how nothing could keep Lance down. It was like being back in a family again, and for some moments throughout the meal, he felt warm and at home and loved. But those moments were heavily interspersed with moments where he felt a hole inside of him and a hole in the team. There were moments he could tell the others felt it too when eyes would wander to an empty chair. When they would stop themselves from mentioning Keith at all. Hunk made a toast to Keith, and according to Pidge, it was a nightly ritual, where Hunk would simply wish Keith a speedy recovery, and the others toasted to it, though the doubt behind their words was nearly palpable. 

Lance tried to ignore it for a while, but after about an hour, he had had enough of playing “normal” and was too tired to keep up the pretense. He yawned and stood and let the others know he had to rest. The others agreed, hurriedly, letting him know of their own plans to return to work or rest. 

“I want to scan a few more systems before the night is through,” Allura said. “I’m very pleased you’re back Lance. The Blue Lion is as well,” she added at the end, as if an afterthought. 

“What? How do you know?” Lance asked, his eyes wide. 

“I felt her. I think you were visiting? And for a moment, I felt the Blue Lion again. It’s a very good sign. Your connection with  _ Blue _ is very strong,” Allura said with a slight smile. Lance wanted to cry again, though for once it was from some kind of congested relief that was stuck in his chest. Instead, he smiled and wiped some mist from his eyes. Allura walked to the exit and Shiro jumped from his seat and followed.

“I’ll go with you,” he said in an eager tone. Allura looked back at him and frowned as he walked up to meet with her at the doorway. They were barely audible from the table, over some chatter between Pidge and Coran, but Lance watched them intently. 

“You need rest, Shiro. When did you last sleep?” Allura said just loud enough for Lance to hear. He watched as she put a gentle hand to his cheek and Shiro shut his eyes, his face still worn and sullen. He said something quietly and gently grabbed Allura’s hand. After a few seconds, Allura’s expression softened and she merely nodded, slowly pulling her hand away from Shiro’s. Lance raised an eyebrow and nudged Hunk in the arm with his elbow. He nodded towards the two that were leaving. 

“What’s going on there?” Lance asked, glad to have a distraction for a moment. Hunk looked as the doors closed and glanced at Lance with a tired smile. 

“Nothing.  _ Yet _ . But you should definitely stop flirting with her,” Hunk said slyly, nudging Lance right back. Lance’s brow furrowed in a bit of confusion mixed with indignation. He had stopped flirting with Allura months ago. A whimsical smile tugged at his lips.

“I can’t believe it. Well, I mean I can. It’s been mounting for months but….of all the times…” Lance trailed off, shaking his head, another slight smile finding his way onto his lips.    
“She’s been really strong and amazing these past two weeks. More so than usual, anyway. She’s also been there for Shiro a lot. Honestly, if Pidge and I had more time to meddle…” Hunk said with a grin. Lance shook his head and his smile dropped into an indignant frown.

“You two,” Lance said before the smile made its way back. “Let them alone. I’m pretty sure they don’t need your help,” Lance said. Hunk merely shrugged. 

“You want me to help you back to your room?” He asked, already starting to stand from his chair. Lance put his hand on Hunk’s shoulder to keep him seated.

“I got it. You finish your food. Thanks for dinner. It was great,” he said, forcing a final smile as Hunk gave him a thumbs up before Lance turned and left the room. 

Lance shuffled towards his room, finally alone with his thoughts again. At first, they were a mixture of his friends. Allura and Shiro’s budding romance, to Hunk’s unflappable optimism, to Pidge and Coran’s argument over some impossible scientific equation that he probably wouldn’t follow that well on a  _ good _ day. But slowly the warm feelings his friends had left with him trickled out through an emotional filter. Blue was left, and so was Keith. Lance actually had every confidence that Blue would be okay. He would be bugging Coran to work with him on fixing Blue up every day for the foreseeable future. It was the thought of Keith that he struggled with, unsurprisingly. 

Lance, with every fiber of his being, wanted to pick up on Hunk’s optimism, on his words that Keith would be okay. But where had optimism gotten them so far? What would it do but shatter him completely when Keith finally...finally. Lance still couldn’t bring himself to finish that thought. It was less than 10 hours since he had woken up, and while he was not feeling hopeful, he was also in complete denial that Keith was going to be out of their lives for good. When he looked up at his door he felt strange. It was unfamiliar, and he realized his feet had carried him to Keith’s room. 

Lance hesitated before placing his hand on the door control. The doors slid open while he hovered a minute in the doorway before deciding to go in. He immediately turned the lights on as bright as he could and his eyes darted around the room. It was almost identical to his own room, aside from a few items that were placed haphazardly around and some post-its on the walls.

His eyes were suddenly drawn to the bed. Keith’s jacket was lying slightly crumpled over the blankets. Lance walked to it and quickly picked it up, smoothing it out frantically. Going into Keith’s room wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had. It overwhelmingly felt like Keith. The weird mixture of grunge and cleanliness, the post-its stuck to random parts of the walls, placed up with an urgency, a need to take note of something important to him. 

It was dizzying, the pain that surged through him. It wasn’t like the physical pain from before when he was dying inside his Lion. That had been something he could cope with, as miserable as it was. This was much more weighty and ravaging. It was all emotional and mental trauma that he had kept at bay while he needed to function properly with the others. Now it worked its way through his mind like a deafening static, and he had no way of stopping the onslaught. 

He struggled to walk the few small steps to Keith’s bed, and sat down slowly, his head already feeling light. He pulled his legs up and laid down against Keith’s pillow before realizing what a mistake it had been. He knew the scent that was hitting his nose was Keith’s. Another pain manifested from deep down in his belly and rumbled up through his chest and he let out a loud sob, pulling his hand up to his mouth quickly, hoping no one in the Castle was near enough to hear it. 

His sobs were ugly, uncontrolled and suffocating. It wasn’t just that Keith was gone, it was all he had been through that led up to Keith’s...death. His mind finally let him finish the thought now that he had already fallen apart. There was nothing to hold the thought back because there was no longer any reason to hold himself together. The emotions were crippling. Fear and loss and worry and relief, and the forced mental fortitude he had used to hold himself together so that he could at least attempt to live through it all. He wondered how much of it had been Blue’s influence because now he had nothing helping him to calm down and use rational thought. He held Keith’s jacket tightly to his chest and continued sobbing into the pillow until he was too exhausted to be awake any longer. 

 

\--------

 

It continued for a few nights. During the day he would interact normally, though extremely toned down for what the rest of the crew were familiar with. Then at night, when he was alone with nothing to keep his mind distracted, he would cry. Sometimes it was loud and sometimes it was just quiet tears as his mind raced around with thoughts of a life and of plans that were no longer eligible to be put into action. 

Lance wasn’t sure if he had just exhausted his tear ducts or his capacity to cry in general, but after a few nights the crying stopped and he decided to concentrate all of his energy on repairing Blue. As soon as his brace was off, he started bugging Coran whenever he didn’t look too busy, and Coran was always eager to help, and sometimes Hunk would come along as well when he wasn’t busy sweeping for those Vereltet things, or tinkering with some other projects or meals. Lance had Coran explain everything he was capable of explaining in regards to how Blue worked. Anything that wasn’t clouded by inexplicable magic, Lance wanted to know how to repair and to know the meaning and science behind it. 

It was extremely overwhelming for him. He was definitely not an engineer, even if he had a basic idea of how ships worked, which was required of any pilot in the Garrison, but this was a new ship with magic energy and hidden secrets. It was about a week before Lance was rewarded for his concentration by Blue finally coming back online full time. There was purring and growling and roaring and laughing and all of it took place at the corners of his mind and Lance lost track of whose voice was whose because the connection returning to him had him feeling too euphoric to keep track. 

He visited Keith daily. He’d quickly check his vitals to make sure they were still stable, then he’d talk. At first, it was a lot of things he needed to get off his chest. His regrets, his survivor’s guilt. Sometimes he would almost slip up and speak from the heart, about his true feelings on Keith, but he always stopped himself. He wasn’t going to unload on Keith’s lifeless body held up in a glass tube. He had missed his chance, and he had to accept that. His days were spent with repairs, then the rest of the crew for breaks, back to repairs, and then any down time was spent with Keith.

The topics switched once Lance had gotten all of the apologies out of his system. They were chosen at random. Sometimes he’d talk to Keith about his day, about his work on Blue, about everything he was learning. Sometimes he would gossip about their friends, about whatever seemed to be going on with Shiro and Allura, or Pidge’s lack of showering. Sometimes he would mention his family and talk to Keith about his siblings or his parents or any number of his several cousins and aunts and uncles that he was missing terribly.

Sometimes he’d ask Keith questions, wondering if he could be answered with whatever was being uploaded into the ship. _ Where’d you learn to fly like that? It’s like watching an artist at work, really. What was it like that year in the desert? Who’s waiting for you back on Earth? What was the feeling like when you first discovered Blue’s cave back on Earth? Was it the same as your connection to Big Red?  _

Lance didn’t like to bring up the Red Lion often. She hadn’t been operational since they brought her back on board. Coran had cleaned the inside as best he could, but his focus was on the Blue Lion since it was more useful to repair a Lion with an actual pilot. It was another thing for Lance to feel guilty about.

Yet, at the same time, he didn’t want Red to be functional without Keith. He didn’t want Allura to start looking for a replacement, which would be inevitable as soon as the Lion was back in working order. No one said it outright, but Allura had alluded to as much when talking with Coran about the repairs with the Blue Lion. So Lance just didn’t bring up the Red Lion much. It sucked. He wanted to tell Keith that Big Red was okay. Because if Keith could hear anything, he’d definitely want to know about the Lion’s welfare. That connection was too important to ignore. And eventually, his guilt outweighed his selfish desires.

It was about four weeks since he had gotten out of the healing pod and he finally decided to check on Big Red. 

“I think we should work on her today,” Lance had told Coran as he was bringing in tools and parts to the Blue Lion’s hangar. Coran raised a curious eyebrow, but shrugged and nodded before prattling on about the differences in the Red and Blue Lions’ systems. Lance tried to focus on it all, but Coran always ended up slipping into terms that seemed pretty unique to the Alteans and inevitably got a bit lost. When Coran looked back at him to see if he was paying attention, he stopped talking and smiled at Lance’s confused expression.    
“I suppose I’d just better show you,” he said with amusement in his voice. Lance half-smiled and nodded. He knew Coran was trying to engage with him as much as possible, but Lance definitely hadn’t been as chatty with the others since he was back. He wondered if he was talking more to Keith than to people who could actually hear and talk back to him. 

Walking into the Red Lion again was jarring. Lance broke out into a sweat almost immediately. It was cleaned, just as Blue had been, but it felt different entirely. He looked around, placing the last memories he had with Keith. The only thing that kept him from bolting out of the Lion was that he had no idea exactly where they had been when Keith died. It was dark and they had been surrounded by debris and things that were no longer crowding the cabin. Still, his heart was racing uncomfortably. Suddenly Coran placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“Why don’t you work on restoring the ramp? It’s just like the Blue Lion’s, so unless you forgot everything already, you should be able to do it on your own while I fiddle around in here,” Coran said in his usual chipper tone. Lance nodded, or maybe his whole body was shaking, he wasn’t sure. He just knew he was glad to be relieved of being inside the final resting place of his friend. 

The repairs to the ramp were minimal, but still took time and precision and a bit of soldering. He oiled some hinges and was replacing a cracked panel when he heard something strange. He thought it was a growl, but when he stepped back and took a look up at the Lion, it was as motionless as it had been for the past month or so. He walked back and snapped the panel into place before drilling screws in. He stepped back again to admire his work, or rather, make sure he didn’t mess it up. Suddenly the entire ramp pulled in and up. The Lion’s mouth was closed tightly. 

“What the  _ quiznak _ .” Lance murmured to himself in monotone. He suddenly heard some banging and Coran’s muffled voice. 

“What the quiznak did you  _ do _ , Lance?” Coran was shouting. 

“I just fixed the ramp! Maybe I set off some...retraction mechanism? I don’t know how, though,” Lance was shouting. 

“There isn’t…” was all Coran said before he said a few more words that Lance just knew had to be Altean swears. Suddenly the noises trailed off and Lance could hear Coran clanging around somewhere else in the Lion. After another moment, there were sounds of old metal creaking and a few more bangs and then suddenly a panel beneath the Lion popped down and Coran’s legs were dangling from the new hole in the Lion right before he jumped down and landed on the ground like an acrobat. 

“Now, what was  _ that _ all about?” Coran muttered to himself as he came around to Lance at the head of the Red Lion.

“I don’t think I did anything!” Lance defended himself right away. 

“I don’t either. That shouldn’t have happened. The Red Lion’s systems are still shut down. There’s no way…” Coran was moving about quickly, checking every nook and cranny on the outside of the Red Lion. 

“Maybe she didn’t want us in there,” Lance mumbled to himself, looking up at the blank eyes of Big Red. He reached up and traced a hand along the bottom of the mouth as if he was trying to scratch its chin. “Do you miss Keith, buddy?” Lance said, still in a tone that suggested he was talking to himself. Coran made his way back to the front of the Lion, humming in confused irritation. 

“It just doesn’t make sense! But we better hold off on any more work with the Red Lion until we have Allura check some things herself,” Coran said. His shoulders slumped as he took one last look at the Red Lion. “My tools are still in there,” his voice sounded dejected. Lance pat his shoulder, a slight smile on his lips. Big Red managed to cause trouble even when completely nonfunctional; he couldn’t wait to tell Keith. His smile dropped as the thought stung him. Keith would love it, sure, but Keith’s lifeless body wouldn’t react or smile or roll his eyes in amusement. 

“Hey Coran, I’m not feeling too great. I’m gonna go lay down for a bit,” he said, his thumb pointing to the exit. 

“Right. I might as well go find the princess and let her know about this development,” Coran said, still sounding somewhat dejected and distracted. Lance turned and left the hangar and headed straight for Keith’s room. Lance had set up shop in there since he didn’t think Keith would be using it. Plus, if Allura did find a replacement he sure as hell wasn’t going to let someone else sleep in this room, color-coding set-up be damned. 

Lance had already cleaned the room once, with the exception of a few things where he was hesitant to wash the feel of Keith away. He washed the sheets, the pillowcases, but left the blanket as it was, having a mild scent of a clean version of Keith hidden between its folds. He had also put the jacket in Keith’s closet as it was getting dangerously close to getting his tears stained into the suede parts. Maybe it was a hideously flashy jacket, but Lance didn’t want to ruin it regardless. 

He had no idea what to do with Keith’s knife. It was like Keith’s pet, or his son or something; Lance never really got it, but he knew it was something important. He had put it in a drawer, but ten minutes later had pulled it out again, thinking it needed to be on display. So he left it on a shelf by the door. After that, he had absentmindedly started bringing it with him around the Castle, attaching it to a loop on his belt. Now he was unlatching it and putting it back on the shelf as he dove into Keith’s former bed.

He pulled the blankets up around his neck, leaving his body exposed as he inhaled the crumpled blanket. It had the contrary effect of being both calming and tormenting, but Lance didn’t really think the action through. He just did what he felt as he numbly stared up at the ceiling of the bed. It was some new coping mechanism, to lay still and not really think of anything, basking in the remnants of the red paladin. He had eventually fallen asleep and woke up again when Hunk found him, letting him know there was food available if he wanted any. Hunk fussed over him for a moment before Lance involuntarily scowled at the attention. Hunk stumbled over his words as he left the room and Lance didn’t think he could feel any lower than he did at that moment, so what better time than to visit Keith.

 

\--------

 

“...so she’s obviously being stubborn. I think she just doesn’t want anyone in there but you,” Lance was saying as he sat with his back against Keith’s pod. He didn’t often face Keith anymore. It unnerved him on the surface and hurt him if he gave himself a chance to dig deeper. He yawned and his stomach grumbled. He would have to grab something to eat soon, and put Hunk’s mind at ease. 

“I get it though,” Lance directed his words towards Keith again. “I don’t want anyone in there but you either. Well I mean, I wouldn’t mind giving her a spin some time. But knowing Big Red she’d probably eject me out into space without warning.” Lance let off a breathy, half-hearted laugh. He sighed more loudly than he intended and stretched. “Hunk’s probably worried, so I better go. Gotta apologize to him. Don’t ask…” Lance said, shaking his head as he realized what he’d just said. He stood and twisted around to try and crack his back.

He didn’t hear a crack, though; some other noise filled his ears. His eyes shot to the pod as his heart pounded with some irrational instance of hope. Keith was as he had been for the last four weeks, minus the burn scars. He squinted, eyeing it suspiciously before turning his eyes to the extraction tube that held Keith’s..essence. The droplets of starlight swirled around and he noticed suddenly, that the red hues had calmed and there were droplets of blue and purple that seemed to be taking over. He wondered what that meant; if certain memories were tied to colors; but then the sound filled his ears again. Definitely not Keith or his monitors. It was familiar, however. 

“Blue,” Lance muttered, under his breath, and turned to quickly make his way to his hangar. 

The Blue Lion was in the same spot Lance had left it. He walked to the mouth and climbed inside and looked around. Blue greeted him with a warm purring and the lights on the control panels danced around as if for show. Lance raised an eyebrow, smiling, utterly confused. He then felt the sensation of Blue pressing at his mind, asking him to pass information along. Lance opened up to let the Lion see what he had been doing that day; the work with the Red Lion, the chat with Keith. The lights danced around the panels again. Blue was...happy? Lance pressed back, trying to read the Lion, but whatever got Blue acting like a kitten, he was keeping to himself. 

Suddenly Blue pressed again, flooding him with emotion and ideas and questions and messages. Lance was laughing without knowing why; only knowing a warm sensation had filled his chest before Blue settled down again. 

“You want me to pass a message to Big Red? You realize she’s out of commission, right? Plus if anyone can get a message to the other Lions, wouldn’t you be best for the job?” Lance was talking out loud, unnecessarily. The Blue Lion grumbled the familiar mechanical grumbling that meant to stop questioning and just do the favor. Lance shrugged but agreed and made his way over to the Red Lion’s hangar. It was a bit of a trek and he had time to try and decrypt the message Blue had passed into him. Some of it was weird. Keith hacking at Blue when he had saved Lance, and another image had been when Lance and Keith had argued in Blue’s cockpit. And then another image: Keith pressing his hands against Blue’s barrier when they had discovered the Lion for the first time, then Lance knocking the barrier down with two small knocks. Blue focused on Keith’s face for a moment, looking at Lance with wonder. The image stung, and he had no idea why that played with the rest, but Lance moved on quickly from it as he tried to remember what else Blue had shoved into his head.

It was Keith, finding Red for the first time. His anger and fear and utter determination to get Big Red to bond with him while the Red Lion watched him curiously, almost laughing at his gall. Lance wondered if the Red Lion had been sending a live stream of thoughts to the other Lions while this was happening. As if to say “Wow, can you believe this guy?” Right before Keith opened the airlock to keep the Red Lion out of enemy hands, and then got pulled out into space. The Red Lion was impressed, and Lance smiled at the idea. The Red Lion scooped him out of the blackness of space and opened itself up to Keith to see what he was really made of. 

Lance's heart hurt a little at this. Keith’s skill had been so promising, so unmatched. It hurt to think that he wouldn’t get to see him fly again. Especially when he saw just how impressed Big Red was with his skills. He sighed heavily as he reached the Red Lion’s hangar and the lights snapped on. He looked at her, still standing in place as he and Coran had left her, mouth shut tight. Lance wasn’t even sure how to send his message along. It wasn’t a set of words, really, just thoughts and feelings and ideas. Something Lance couldn’t translate. 

“Hey,” Lance said aloud, not even sure if the Lion’s spirit (or whatever it was) was there to hear him. Was it going to be like his conversations with Keith, one-sided and depressing? There was not a single part of him that was surprised when the Red Lion didn’t respond. Lance walked up and did the same thing he had before, reaching up on his tip-toes, stretching his arm its entire length to press his palm flat against the chin of the Lion. 

It wasn’t the same as before. There was warmth beneath his palm. Before he realized what was happening, the information Blue had passed to him was being extracted, taken and consumed. Lance was unfamiliar with the energy but somehow knew Big Red was behind it. He started panting as his heartbeat picked up. He wasn’t sure humans were meant to see or think this way; he wondered how much of his brain power was working to process all that he was seeing and feeling. The transference ended and his body shuddered in an involuntary response and he nearly tipped over as he removed his hand from the Lion. 

“What in the...what  _ was _ that?” Lance asked himself through sharp breaths. He continued breathing heavily, bent over, hands on knees, trying to steady himself. The sound of metal screeching filled his ears and he stood back and looked up. Big Red was still, nothing seemed to have changed. 

“Lance! There you are! What are you doing in here?” Coran was walking towards him from the hangar’s entrance. Lance’s entire body jolted with surprise and he nearly fell over again. “Whoa! Did I scare you?” Coran asked, amused as ever. Lance shook his head.   
“This Lion’s haunted, or something. It’s making noises!” Lance said, pointing an accusing finger at the giant mechanical beast. Coran’s mustache twitched as he held in a laugh.

“Lance, it’s a damaged vessel, it’s liable to make some creaks and moans when metal shifts or parts break off from earlier jostling,” Coran explained with a raised eyebrow. “Why do you always accuse things of being haunted?” 

“Because things get haunted, Coran!” Lance said defensively, stopping himself from sticking his tongue out as he crossed his arms. “And it wasn’t shifting, it was talking!” Lance pressed. Coran looked over him and stared at the Red Lion, eyes growing wide for a moment. Lance held his breath, waiting for Coran to speak again. Coran blinked and looked back at Lance. 

“Nope, it’s still not online!” Coran said with a wicked smile under his bushy mustache. Lance scrunched his face up in irritation but didn’t say anything to contradict him. Maybe he had just been imagining things. It wouldn’t be the first time. “Oh, and Hunk’s been looking for you. Again. Would you please go to the dining hall before he starts acting like a gyrating wumpnar?” Lance looked suspiciously around the room again, also at Coran; he had to be making these names up, there was no way Alteans named everything under the sun something ridiculous. He nodded and turned on his heel to walk away, with one last glance at the Red Lion. He didn’t mention it to Coran this time, but he could swear he heard purring. 

Lance reached the dining hall to find Pidge and Hunk in the middle of yet another debate, but to his surprise it was not about math or science, but about chip flavors; something he could definitely get in on. He pulled up a chair and entered himself into the conversation naturally and the others gladly enjoyed his addition--momentarily-- until they ganged up on him when he declared his favorite flavor of chip. 

Lance ate and enjoyed the company of his friends for the first time in -what felt like- ages. It was almost like they were back at the Garrison again, worried about grades and tests and not aliens and death. But then the meal ended, and the conversation died down, and the constant whirring of mechanisms throughout the ship made them all very aware of where they were again. Lance stood, stretched and excused himself for the night. He decided to go to an observation deck for the first time since he had come out of the healing pod. 

He watched the stars, but somehow it wasn’t the same as before. The comforting feeling that he used to feel watching stars and meteors and galaxies was absent. Now they only made him feel more lonely than whole. He wondered for a split second if he would ever feel whole again when he knew a piece of himself was missing. It might as well have been a rib or a toe or a kidney, the feeling had become so rooted in his being. He sighed and went back to Keith’s room to try and sleep. 

 

\--------

 

The Red Lion roared at him, sending flashes of red and blue and sparks behind his eyelids and he gasped awake. His chest was heaving and he lifted his arms up to hold himself against-- what was that? Glass? His breathing picked up and he looked around, not at all sure where he was. He immediately began pounding on the glass before he felt several pricks at the pack of his neck like a series of ant bites. He slapped his neck but nothing was there. He continued breathing heavily, but he couldn’t see, he was blinded by the light surrounding him. He tried to calm himself, and as soon as his breathing became stable, the glass slid down and he stumbled forward. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your guys' comments give me life! You've made this entire little journey worth it for me and I thank you all so much! The next chapter is about 2/3 finish, so I'll be uploading it later tonight or tomorrow. It's the final one, for sure for sure!


	16. Always

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final Chapter! I hope it even slightly meets your expectations. I edited twice! But sorry for any typoes or terrible grammar. :x
> 
> My mood music for this chapter:  
> [Sleeping At Last-Light](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNoMeKCn0x4)

“Whoa there. I’ve got you,” a familiar voice said. 

His legs shook and knocked together as he found purchase and he blinked rapidly, pushing his black hair from his eyes. “It’s good to have you back, Keith.” The voice was gentle, but brimming with emotion. In the next second he was held tightly in Coran’s arms. 

Keith huffed into Coran’s chest for several minutes. His last memory was of being electrocuted; watching Lance watch him die. He swallowed several times, his throat was fiercely dry. He smacked his lips together when an attempt to speak failed. 

“You must be thirstier than a kwebnek at a planter’s gathering! I’ll grab you something to drink. I’m sure you’re confused, but give yourself time to get your head together. I’ll be back shortly,” Coran told him. He placed him down on the ground, seated against the pod he had just been in. Something about it felt familiar to Keith, but he didn’t know why. He just sat, blinking and staring down the empty corridor where Coran had disappeared. He shuddered slightly, then looked around some more as his eyes adjusted. He noticed a tube of light that looked familiar. He suddenly remembered where he was. But why  _ was _ he here?

He pushed himself up from the ground, feeling incredibly antsy, not wanting to wait for Coran. His legs were jelly, however, and he stumbled around for a minute before he could finally step with purpose. He walked towards the tube of starlight and pressed a finger against it. The stars danced around and crowded on the other side of the glass where his finger touched it. He pulled it away and shook his hand out, though there was no reason to. It hadn’t burned or felt like anything, but still there was some strange tingling sensation he couldn’t get rid of. He heard quick footsteps and saw Coran turn a corner and jog up with a pouch. 

“Here you go, Keith, refreshing nutrients and hydration all in one convenient pouch,” Coran said, poking the straw into the pouch for Keith. Keith grabbed it gently, still out of it. Once his throat was sufficiently cleared, he spoke. 

“Why am I here? What happened?” Keith asked. His memory was clouded and hazy, like he couldn’t quite snap out of a dream. Coran opened his mouth to speak but a strong current rushed through Keith’s chest. “Where’s Lance? Is he okay? What happened to him? Did he make it out?” Keith was clutching at Coran with a weak fist grasping at his cloak. Coran held his hands up in an effort to persuade Keith to calm down and Keith dropped his hand from Coran while his other hand gripped tightly on the pouch and sipped nervously in loud slurps.

“Lance is fine. He’s asleep, probably. You’re here because you died and though we were able to resuscitate you, you remained in a coma after the healing period of a few days. I was worried about losing you so I hooked you up here to upload your memory into the Castle as a precaution. Since it wasn’t done with your permission or knowledge, it has been a slow process, but by the looks of it, we don’t even need that anymore now that we have the real deal back,” Coran said with a wink. Keith stared blankly at Coran, trying to process everything he was being told, fidgeting at every word. 

“Lance went into shock, but he was also resuscitated and placed in a healing pod. His damages were more severe, but the healing pod was able to repair everything. I hear it’s thanks to you,” Coran said, his mustache twitching like it always did when he smiled. 

“Huh? I didn’t do anything,” Keith said, confused.

“He said you gave him a blood transfusion; brought him back to life once. I wouldn’t call that  _ doing nothing _ ,” Coran said. Keith flushed slightly. He didn’t like to be the center of attention for doing the right thing. 

“Oh, well, I wasn’t going to let him die,” Keith said solemnly as he took the final sip of the pouch. He yawned. “How long have I been..out?” 

“Almost two of your Earth months,” Coran said, a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at Keith. 

“Whoa,” Keith stated softly. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them. For being out for so long, his body and mind both felt tired. “My Lion?” Keith suddenly choked out, looking at Coran. 

“In pretty bad shape. Though, I have a feeling now that you’re awake to work on her she’ll be fine in no time,” Coran said. 

“Hm,” Keith didn’t like being placated and looked away from Coran. 

“I’m serious, Keith. Your connection with her will really help us out. Lance seems to think she doesn’t want anyone but you in there even though I told him she was offline. It’s impossible. He thinks she’s haunted. What goes on through his mind…” Coran trailed off as he twirled his mustache thoughtfully. Keith’s mouth twitched as the corners pulled up into a subtle smile. 

“Why would he think that?” Keith asked. 

“We were working on the Red Lion earlier today and, without warning, the mouth snapped shut. I had to crawl through a turbine compartment and then through wires to get to the bottom hatch!” Coran said indignantly. Keith’s smile pulled harder. 

“Sounds like the Red Lion to me,” he mumbled, chewing on the straw. 

“The others will want to know you’re up. Especially…” Coran started. Keith’s yawn cut him off. 

“I don’t think...I can’t handle that right now. I kind of just want to go to bed,” Keith said, rubbing at his eyes. He looked down and stared at the weird, oatmeal colored pod suit. Either it was extremely unflattering, or he had definitely lost some weight. “I need to get out of this thing,” he added with a grimace. 

“I suppose they can wait until morning. It  _ is _ the middle of the night,” Coran said, another twirl of the mustache. “Very well, I should help you to your room.”

“No, that’s fine Coran. I’d like to be..alone,” Keith said, hesitantly. Coran gave him a curious look but shrugged and helped Keith to his feet. Keith took a couple (or more than a couple depending on who you asked) of stumbles forward before his muscle memory kicked in and he began walking normally, if perhaps more slowly than usual. 

The reality of the situation was that Keith was not, in fact, going back to his room. He had told Coran a lie to get away. Well, it was more like a half lie. He truthfully  _ didn’t _ feel much like seeing anyone at that moment, with an exception. He was making his way towards Lance’s room. He would just pop in quickly, let Lance know he was alright, then go off to his Lion to check up on her damage. Then,  _ maybe _ , he could consider sleep at some point.

He kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure Coran wasn’t following him or that another wandering body didn’t somehow run into him. When he reached Lance’s room he knocked gently. No answer. He knocked again but heard no reply. Worried he’d wake someone else up if he knocked any harder, he pressed his hand to the door panel and let himself in. The room was dark but he remembered the layout and shuffled to Lance’s bed. 

“Lance,” Keith whispered. His heart was fluttering in his chest at the thought of seeing Lance safe and sound in his bedroom. He tried to push the feeling away like swatting at a gnat, but his heart continued beating erratically. Keith could still see Lance in his mind’s eye, bloody and cut and bruised and dying, and he swallowed hard to force a shudder down. Honestly, he just needed to see that Lance was healed and okay. He stepped closer to the bed and called out for Lance again. 

With only the slightest trepidation he slid a hand over the blankets and it took him all of two seconds to realize the bed was made. And quite empty. His heart dropped a little. Maybe Lance was at the observation deck? Keith could make his way over there without anyone seeing him, probably. He scratched his stomach and once again remembered he was still in the healing suit. He grimaced. It clung to every new crevice and sunken spot on his body. He decided he definitely didn’t want any of the others to see him walking around in it and headed for his room to change. 

He slipped out of Lance’s room and turned down a hall to get to his own doorway. Seeing his door was a welcome sight. It had become his own etched out space in the ship, which he never realized meant so much to him until he was threatened with losing that. His room wasn’t quite “home” but it was definitely high up the list. 

Keith pressed his hand to the panel and the door slid open to reveal his dimly lit room. Why was the light on? Had he left it on before the mission and no one thought to go into his room the entire time he was... There was no need for him to finish his train of thought when he saw his knife on the shelf near the door before his eyes were quickly drawn to the bed.

There Lance was, huddled under his blankets, drooling on his pillow and sheets, lightly snoring. Keith's brain ignored the question of why Lance was in his room to immediately zone in on the fact that Keith felt a very strong sense of calm and home as he watched him. He stepped towards his bed and cleared his throat but it wasn’t enough to even remotely stir Lance.

“Lance,” Keith said in a gentle tone. Lance shifted slightly, pulling the blanket further towards his chin. “Lance,” Keith repeated in the same gentle tone, though a bit louder. Lance’s serene expression shifted suddenly, and Keith’s heart thudded as Lance let out something small and quiet like a whimper. He still appeared to be asleep but whatever was going on behind his eyelids had drifted into painful territory, made obvious by the tears suddenly dripping from his shut eyes. 

“Lance!” Keith said, loud and urgent. That seemed to work and Lance jolted in surprise, taking a deep breath and looking around the room with one squinted eye while the other remained shut. 

“Aah!” Lance shouted as his eye was assaulted by the light, even dim as it was. He rubbed his eyes and wiped the drool from his mouth and peered out into the room again. He squinted, rubbed his eyes, squinted more, then gasped. 

Keith watched as Lance struggled to push off the blanket and untwist his body and step out of the bed. His foot was still twisted in the blankets and Lance tripped and stumbled and fell to the floor. Keith covered the smile on his mouth as Lance made more struggling noises while he tried to untwist the blanket from his foot. 

“How did you end up as a paladin when you have zero motor skills?” Keith couldn’t help himself, talking through his fingers. Lance glared up at him. 

“I thought you were an illusion, but that’s  _ definitely _ you alright,” he said before throwing the blanket away from himself and jumping to his feet.

He stood facing Keith for a moment, looking him over and his glare dropped immediately into a mixture of disbelief and sadness, if Keith was reading him correctly. Keith just knew his heart was going haywire with excited palpitations now that he was looking at Lance alive and okay and bumbling around again. 

“Lance,” Keith said, voice tremoring with uncertainty; unsure of what Lance’s look meant and unsure of what he even wanted to say to him. He just needed to say his name, to root him to the spot, to keep him tethered to him. Lance’s expression shifted and his brows lowered as Keith watched tears form at the corners of his eyes. He grabbed Keith abruptly and pulled him into a hug that could give Hunk’s hugs a run for their money. Keith stood deathly still for a moment, almost unsure of what was happening. Then he felt Lance’s tears trickling down his neck and he remembered how his arms worked and they moved up to wrap around Lance’s back. 

“You died, Keith, you...In my hand. You died and...I thought…” Lance choked out the words, muffled against Keith’s hair. Keith could feel Lance’s chest shudder against his own as he spoke. “You can’t do that. You don’t do that,” Lance was whispering now. He sounded like he was scolding him. Keith felt tears of his own as Lance’s arms grew tighter around him. 

“You did it first!” Keith blurted. He didn’t remember dying, or whatever Lance was talking about with his hand, but he remembered the feeling he had when Lance had gone into shock in the Red Lion and the threat of losing him had stared him in the face. 

Lance’s body was shuddering now and Keith tensed against him, immediately worried. Lance was repeatedly exhaling through his nose, the start of a laugh rumbling in his throat. Moments later it erupted and his hot breath assaulted Keith’s wet shoulder with raucous chuckling. It was that specifically contagious, uninhibited laughter that Keith had grown accustomed to and before he could help it he was laughing back into Lance’s shoulder. They stood there for a while; laughing and hugging and ignoring everything else, briefly elated in the fact that they were both alive and well. Then the laughter died down and Lance seemed to remember himself and pulled away from Keith. 

“Sorry. I know you don’t um...like hugs,” he said. Keith’s face flushed. “I just...I’m really happy you’re back. Like, extremely..really happy.” Lance's cheeks grew red as he spoke before his expression turned more inquisitive. “Um, so what happened, anyway? Do you remember being in a coma? Hey, did you hear me talking to you while you were in the pod? Are you okay? Are you feeling okay, I mean? Does anything hurt? Maybe we should have Coran look at you in the infirmary,” Lance was mumbling a mile a minute and Keith couldn’t bring himself to do anything but smile gently at him. 

“Lance,” Keith said softly. He placed a gentle hand on Lance’s shoulder, an attempt to slow him down. He noticed Lance’s ears turn bright red and his goofy, lopsided smile crossed his face. 

“Can I try something?” Keith asked while staring into the blueness of Lance’s eyes. The last time he had seen them they were dull, dim, red. Now the color was vibrant again and they were almost dancing and they were _doing_ _something_ to Keith’s heart.

“Um, okay but what…” Lance began to ask, but Keith moved his hand on the shoulder up to Lance’s neck and pulled him down into a kiss which definitely did the trick of stopping the rambling. Lance’s hands cautiously found their way back to Keith’s sides as he tugged his body closer. 

It wasn’t exactly  _ a _ kiss, as in, solitary; it was more like a series of chaste kisses. They both seemed to be holding back; exploring boundaries, tasting and feeling lips. Keith was taking small notes in his head. Lance’s lips were as soft as they looked, a fact he reveled in, though it made it more painfully obvious that his own lips were dry and chapped. He might have to start using chapstick if this was going to become a thing.

If Lance minded Keith’s lips at all, he didn’t seem to show it. He continued brushing his lips against Keith’s, finding spots where their lips fit together and pressing into them, enveloping Keith’s lips with his own. Then he sought new territory to do it all over again. It wasn’t a kiss to end all kisses, Keith knew that,  _ probably _ . But his heart leapt around in his chest at finally doing something he’d been waiting to do for --what felt like-- ages. And he found himself struggling to stand. His legs were as weak as they had been when he’d stumbled from the pod because Lance’s gentle kisses were turning him into mush. 

Keith had initiated the kiss but he was already overwhelmed as it was exceeding all his expectations. Had he had expectations? He had just needed to do it; the desire was overwhelming. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. Still, Keith’s face felt on fire from the physical contact. Lance smiled into another kiss and Keith pulled away for a moment to catch his breath. 

“It worked,” Keith deadpanned through his breaths. Lance let out a sharp breathy laugh before he moved in to nuzzle Keith’s cheek, resting their foreheads together. 

“Yeah,” Lance said in an amused tone. He left another gentle kiss on the corner of Keith’s mouth and Keith knew he was flushed scarlet. Lance pulled away and Keith immediately missed the skin contact. His head almost reflexively jerked forward to follow Lance’s as it pulled back. Instead he straightened up and mourned as Lance pulled his arms away. Lance cleared his throat. “It was...nice,” Lance said before his face twisted in horror. “Geez, pretend I didn’t say that!” He blurted before putting his hand to his forehead. Keith’s eyes widened and he suddenly felt very self-conscious.

“What? You mean it wasn’t nice?” Keith heard the nervousness in his voice and almost groaned at how pathetic he must sound. 

“No. I mean it was good. But that’s such a corny thing to say, you know?” Lance had a raised eyebrow and a self-deprecating smile on his lips. 

“No,” Keith shook his head, still not understanding Lance’s outburst. 

“Oh, that’s right,” Lance’s face relaxed. “You don’t really watch much tv or movies. Well if we could just change subjects before my foot gets any further down my throat, that would be great…” Lance said, gripping a handful of his t-shirt and pulling at it awkwardly. 

“I thought it was nice too,” Keith asserted, not really caring what it was Lance felt the need to feel embarrassed about. He stared into Lance’s eyes for a minute before red filtered into every bit of his skin. Lance cleared his throat again before he started babbling.

“I have like, a bajillion questions for you...but you’re probably tired? I don’t know how comas work. Like I’m always tired when I wake up from cryo--wow what a weird thing to say so normally-- but that might be different. Anyway, I guess my point is I’ll give you some privacy.” Keith could see Lance tensing up as he walked to the bed to grab the pillow. His steps were heavy and his body sagged. 

“Stay,” Keith’s voice said before Keith’s brain caught on. Lance looked up at him, uncertain, and Keith was sure his face was mirroring the sentiment. “I mean, I’m not tired. I wouldn’t mind talking. Plus…” Keith hesitated, but decided dying...or nearly dying, or, whatever had made him feel bolder and less like wasting time with small lies. “I don’t want to be alone right now.” He scratched his neck below his hair, suddenly noticing how  _ disgusting _ his hair was. Lance had just touched it and his emboldened state quickly deflated into self-consciousness.

“Oh thank god!” Lance blurted, hugging the pillow to his chest. Keith raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want to be alone either. Or I mean. I don’t want to not..be alone without you. No, that’s not right. I want to not be alone but just with you? I want to be with you, right now, and talk.” Keith bit back a smile as Lance stumbled over word after word. 

“Listen, figure out what you’re trying to say. I really need to shower and get out of this thing,” Keith said, gesturing up and down his body at the horrible suit, feeling even more self-conscious now that he made Lance aware of the _horrible_ _suit_. Lance half-smiled and nodded, throwing the pillow back down on the bed as Keith left to shower.

 

\--------

 

A shower had never felt so good in Keith’s life even when he had to wait stretches between them in the desert. The hot water and the smell of the soap was almost like an overload to his senses. His weight loss was definitely noticeable though. As he cleaned himself he felt the prodding of bones at his skin, and a lot more concave surfaces. He grimaced at the thought of how weak and tired he must look. He was already planning his next training sessions when he quickly reminded himself that Lance was waiting for him. In his room. Lance was in his room. Lance was alive and well in his room and he had definitely just kissed him. 

His stomach did flips and his heart hadn’t really stopped pounding since right before he’d pulled Lance into that first kiss. He dried himself off quickly and threw on a dark gray shirt and light gray sweats, which were the first things he had seen and grabbed from the closet. He shook his hair out, then swabbed the towel around his head again for good measure. His hair was going to be a fluffy mess in a few hours, but what was new. He lost his comb a month after arriving in the Castle and hadn’t thought to ask for a new one. He ran his fingers through his hair, considering that to be good enough. 

When he came back into his room, Lance was on his bed with a second pillow in his lap. 

“I brought this from my room. It’s clean. No drool guaranteed or your money back!” Lance said with a grin. Keith rolled his eyes but caught the pillow when Lance tossed it to him. He walked to the bed and crawled in past Lance to sit against the wall and cross his legs. Lance turned towards him and Keith could see his face turning red and wondered what he was thinking about. Keith ignored the desire to ask and situated himself into a comfortable slouch. 

“So what questions do you have? “Keith asked him. Lance’s brows rose and he looked surprised by the question. Regardless, he was able to fill the silence instantly. 

“Well did you know you were in a coma? Were you like, in some kind of place? Or was the last thing you remembered um..telling me how much you liked my smile?” Lance wriggled his eyebrows and grinned obnoxiously while he made himself comfortable and leaned down on the bed on his elbow and side.

“What? What are you talking about?” Keith asked with a defensive glare.    
“You said I had a killer smile. And that I was brave, had integrity, made you happy,” Lance was listing the points off on his finger, but Keith thought this all sounded like a very obvious lie. Not that a word of it wasn’t, in fact, truth, but the likelihood of him actually saying those things to Lance was a big fat zero percent.

“I never said any of that,” he said grimly. Lance pouted and Keith’s eyes were drawn to his lips again and he became distracted by the fluttering under his chest. 

“You don’t remember waking up in Red? What is the last thing you remember, before today?” Lance asked. He looked up at Keith intently with his vibrant blue eyes and Keith swallowed before speaking.

“Um...you had called for me to go to you, in Red. And then I got hit with that wall of...electricity?” Keith’s words were hesitant. The memory was hardly something he wanted to dwell on, and if Lance was anything like him, he probably wasn’t too keen on thinking back on it either. As Keith suspected, Lance looked down at the bed, suddenly very interested in smoothing out a wrinkle in the sheets. 

“Oh. Well, the enemies, they turned out to be these little machines. And Allura had sent out an electromagnetic pulse to kill them, but it basically shut down Big Red too, so we fell. I was able to kind of keep us afloat at impact with the jetpack, but we still tumbled pretty bad because it was just too rocky. Then we woke up in the dark, Red was offline. Um, you were pretty out of it, I tried to keep you talking but I passed out,” Lance was muttering into his shirt practically, still aggressively smoothing out the--now non-existent--wrinkle.

“Then what? I just started listing off your qualities? Hmph,” Keith said with an eye roll and a smile. But Lance’s expression was dark and distant and his smile faded. 

“No, I asked you..to say nice things about me, heh. Figured that was the only way you ever would,” Lance smiled weakly but it was crumbling back into a frown before the sentence was finished. “I passed out and woke up when they found us. And I had your hand in mine. But it was...cold. And I tried to wake you up,” Lance’s voice was trembling heavily. His words were getting lost in his throat. 

Keith reached over and pulled on Lance’s shoulder until Lance shifted his body to move closer to Keith’s. He pulled Lance’s head into his lap and brushed his hair aside to kiss his forehead.

“Calm down. I’m here, Lance. I’m  _ here _ ,” Keith said. His voice sounded unfamiliar to him; he was not used to using such gentle tones so instinctively. It wasn’t something Keith had ever done or ever saw himself doing, but the movements had been reflexive. It had just been an urge that felt as natural to Keith as breathing. 

Lance calmed his breathing again and his hand reached up to the one Keith had on his shoulder and covered it. Keith paid close attention to how large Lance’s hands were compared to his own and how long and elegant his fingers were. He hadn’t really noticed before until Lance clutched down on Keith’s hand to lock in his fingers.

“I’m sorry,” Keith said softly after a minute. His free hand aimlessly played with the short soft hairs at Lance’s hairline. “I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

“It’s fine. I’d want to know too. It’s just..still hard to think about, you know? But I guess that means you don’t remember being in a coma. And you didn’t hear anything I said to you. Wow, what a waste. I gave you some really good stories!” Lance was already smirking again and his eyes were on Keith’s face. Keith felt flushed under the gaze. It was an intense look that Keith hadn’t seen from Lance before. Keith lightly pushed the side of Lance’s head as a response, and as a way to break the intense staring contest. Lance chuckled and continued talking. “I wonder what woke you up? Like...I mean it was a coma, and people say they experience different things, but if you didn’t even know you were in a coma. You weren’t dreaming or even realized you weren’t conscious. Like, what kickstarted your brain?” Lance’s tone was probing and curious and Keith smiled at his speculation. 

“My Lion woke me up,” Keith said. 

\---------- 

 

“ _Your_ Lion. Since when do you call Big Red ‘ _Your_ _Lion_?’ Wait! What do you mean she woke you up?” Lance’s body shifted slightly to get a better look at Keith’s face as if that would give him the answer. Or maybe he just wanted to get a better look at Keith’s face. 

“Since she called me  _ Her Paladin _ ,” Keith answered the question before continuing. “And she sent me a signal. It’s the only thing I really remember. It was right before I woke up. She was sending me flashes of emotion. Like some kind of weird telepathic pep talk? And she sent me….” Keith stopped himself, looking down at Lance who was fully focused on him while he spoke. 

“Sent you what?” Lance was completely enthralled and Keith was not used to the attention, especially from Lance, who often tried to be on the receiving end of such an undivided audience. But that’s not why he stopped himself. Keith groaned before he continued.

“She sent me flashes of you. Of your..quinessence? I guess? And images of..your face. Oh geez,” Keith said, pulling up a hand to cover his face. He heard Lance let out another airy giggle. 

“Really?” Keith could  _ hear _ his damn smile. And even if it made his heart race, it also made him grow more red and embarrassed. Suddenly Lance’s hand was prying Keith’s hand away from his face, and he was gazing up into his eyes again and Keith was ready to melt or pass out from how hot his face felt. 

“Listen, I don’t know what this is? What we’re going to do, or what’s going to happen, but the thing that sucked most about the thought of um, losing you..well it was that I wasn’t honest with you about my feelings. So as a warning, I’m not gonna do that anymore. Hide my feelings, I mean. And right now you’re being really flipping cute and I really want to kiss you again.” Lance said almost begrudgingly, only breaking eye contact when he blinked. What was he trying to do? Kill Keith?

“W-what do you mean your feelings about me?” Keith stammered. Lance groaned.

“Keith did you not hear the part I said about the kissing or do you not want to kiss me anymore?” Lance said. There was a new confidence about his demeanor, and Keith was suddenly worried about what he was getting himself into. With a soft sigh, he leaned down to kiss Lance’s eager lips. Lance lifted his head into it, but it was still an awkward angle and he was smiling into the kiss again. Keith couldn’t mind if he tried. He still felt the need to hold back so he quickly peppered Lance’s mouth with gentle kisses before pulling up again. Lance couldn’t seem to stop grinning. It was obnoxious and beautiful and made Keith’s stomach flip or turn. He couldn’t decide.

“So anyway, continue,” Lance said in a lackadaisical way that forced an annoyed grin out of Keith. 

“Well I don’t think she was trying to entice me or something, so you can deflate your head a couple of sizes,” Keith said, smiling when Lance murmured an indignant “hey!”. “But she was actually saying something like you’re the reason I’m alive? Wait! Not like, my reason for living so wipe that smile off your face! But um, more like you saved me?” At these words, Lance’s smile fell and his brow furrowed in confusion and distress. He closed his eyes and shook his head. 

“I didn’t do anything. I mean, it was my fault you were in that thing, I don’t know what Red is talking a---” Keith put his hand over Lance’s mouth and Lance’s eyes opened wide to stare at him. 

“Nothing was your fault, Lance. And if I  _ had  _ died, I would have turned into one of the Castle’s ghosts and kicked your ass  _ Exorcism _ style for thinking it was your fault. So I don’t want to hear that again. And anyway, I can’t really explain what Red showed me. You know how it is with the Lions. It’s like feelings and images and a puzzle you have to piece together sometimes.” Keith shut his eyes briefly, trying to reconnect with the feeling. He opened his eyes and looked down at Lance again. “But the gist of it was: your spirit is strong and somehow Blue connected to Red through you, and it brought Red back from wherever she was while she was dormant.” Keith looked down at the mild confusion playing across Lance’s face. Keith felt tongue-tied trying to explain the mind and will of a giant magical robot cat. “Well I guess whatever pulse you talked about cut us off from each other and it’s why I was in the coma. But you connected her to Blue and she was brought out of her own dormancy long enough to try connecting with me and here we are. I think.” Lance was shaking his head and he looked utterly lost.

“I don’t get it,” he said flatly. Then he lifted his arms to talk with them while he spoke. “So you and Big Red were both in comas because the pulse severed your connection in an abnormal way? Okay. But then why were you able to talk to me after the crash? What...oh my god,” Lance’s eyes grew wide and his expression was blank. 

“What? What is it? What’s wrong?” Keith asked nervously.

“Oh god. What if Red was saying all that stuff? About my bravery and integrity and handsomeness. Oh my...I think your Lion has a crush on me. Oh man this is going to be so awkward. How am I ever going to step foot in her again?” Keith couldn’t tell if Lance was serious or if he was messing with him, but the only response he could think to give to such a preposterous notion was to smother his face with a pillow. Keith could hear Lance cracking up, his laughs muffled against the fabric and Keith lifted the pillow only when Lance surrendered. 

“Fine, fine. But that’s still...weird. I mean. I don’t know. That’s a lot...This connection stuff is weird. And I’m pretty sure we need to tell Allura about it,” Lance said thoughtfully. He groaned and turned to his side and pushed himself up on his elbow. “I’m too tired to think about this. I gotta sleep.” Keith watched Lance yawn and stretch out across his bed before standing and grabbing a pillow. 

“Oh. You’re going?” Keith said, unable to hide his disappointment in time. Lance raised an eyebrow. 

“I thought you’d...want me to?” It was more of a question for Keith and all Keith could do was shake his head. “Oh..oh uh-kay. Sure,” Lance stammered while the color in his cheeks deepened. Keith wondered how long this stage of whatever this new relationship was would last, because he was really enjoying making Lance blush constantly. Keith stood and stretched himself and let Lance climb into the bed first and then moved to turn the lights off. Lance yelped a quick “Stop!” before Keith could touch the panel and he looked to him curiously.

“I just--can’t yet. You were...in the dark...when--I just-- do you mind leaving it on? You can dim it some more,” Lance said nervously. Keith dropped his arm, feeling something well up in his chest. 

Keith had definitely undergone what he would consider “trauma”. What he faced when finding Lance was probably forever burned into his memory, waiting in the dark somewhere to haunt him at an inopportune time. Lance’s death, as well as the threat of his own impending death were still being compartmentalized. It wasn’t too difficult, and Keith realized it was because maybe he had just woken up, and because he had Lance to focus on. He had Lance safe with him back at the Castle so the horrors were kept at bay because he had come away from them with everything he needed. 

He only then realized how hard it must have been for Lance; to have to live through Blue’s system failures, through coming to terms with the fact that he might die, to watching Keith die in his arms. Then to survive and feel wholly responsible for that death. How heavy would that weigh on someone? Keith felt crushed, even at the thought of Lance feeling that way.

He stepped back to the bed and laid down, pulling the blanket over Lance’s body and laying down to face him. Lance was playing with a thread on his pillow, avoiding eye contact with Keith for a moment. His mouth moved from side to side and Keith watched him intently, memorizing the features of his face, the unreal lengths of his eyelashes. Had they always been that long? He was always too busy staring at what was behind them, he supposed.

“Um so,” Lance said, still avoiding eye contact. “Can I touch you?” Lance asked gently, his eyes finally meeting with Keith’s. Keith stiffened and felt his entire body heat up. Lance laughed lightly. “Geez, get your mind out of the gutter. I just meant I know physical stuff is um...hard for you? I mean I realize my head was literally just in your lap, but we’re sleeping now and I don’t want to wake up with my beautiful neck in your vice grip because I brushed against you or….laid my arm on you?” Lance’s words shifted between awkward and confident and it was like watching a little dance as Keith watched his eyes search for the right words. 

“Yes, you can touch me. Thanks. For asking, I mean,” Keith mumbled, shifting closer towards Lance to fill the gap of space between them. A soft smile crept over Lance’s face and his arm reached over Keith’s shoulders until his hand was touching the back of Keith’s neck. Keith melted under the touch as Lance slid warm fingers gently back and forth over the nape of Keith’s neck. Keith closed his eyes at the sensation, feeling hypnotized by it. It was soothing and so  _ nice _ and, once again, Keith didn’t see why Lance could possibly have a problem with “nice”. 

Keith felt Lance’s breath on his face for a few seconds and he tensed slightly while waiting for a kiss, wondering why Lance hesitated. As if Lance could read his mind, Lance’s lips pressed against his own. With the hand on his neck and the lips on his mouth, Keith was dizzied by the frenzy of contact. He felt like all he could do was gasp for air as Lance buried him in small kisses before he brought Keith’s bottom lip into his mouth and sucked lightly. Keith heard himself “mm” softly at the sensation and Lance pulled back leaving soft kisses on his jaw line. Keith pulled his bottom lip in between his teeth to somehow preserve the sensation Lance had left on it, and to stifle himself. Lance whimpered slightly and buried himself into Keith’s neck for a minute before pulling away. 

“What’s wrong?” Keith asked, once again missing the feeling of Lance’s skin against his. 

“Just...nothing. I just can’t believe...Like if you asked me yesterday if I’d be lying in bed with you and kissing you, I’d have said you were crazy. Like, that it was  _ impossible _ . Mostly because you were in a coma and that’d be weird. But also just..this here. I mean I know I’m charming and eventually you’d fall in love with me, but this seems a little too easy and I’m kinda worried I’m actually dreaming or something,” Lance spoke quickly and nervously as if his words were going to be off-putting. Keith understood his feelings though. Because he had been on the other side of this imaginary wall, thinking the exact same things. 

“You’re not dreaming,” Keith said.

“Exactly what a dream would say!” Lance said through a yawn. 

“Wait,” Keith said, suddenly picking up on Lance’s words. “What do you mean I’d eventually fall in love with you?” Keith wanted to sound indignant but his words just came out amused, even if he was glaring. Lance yawned again.

“Tired now. Must sleep,” Lance said while his eyelids grew heavy and his blinks were slowed. 

“Fine, but I’m asking you tomorrow!” Keith whispered gruffly. A goofy, sleepy smile wormed its way across Lance’s perfect face, and Keith suddenly didn’t know if he would ask Lance tomorrow because how could he even refute that subject honestly? 

“Can you talk? Tell me about yourself?” Lance said through another yawn. Keith was amazed and annoyed at how quickly Lance seemed to be drifting into sleep. Keith would likely be awake for another hour, and that was if he was lucky. At least he had a nice view. 

“Hmm? Why?” Keith asked.

“I want to hear your voice,” Lance murmured.

“What do you want to know?” Keith asked quietly. Lance’s fingers on his neck had stopped moving, but his hand remained cupped in place. Keith gathered his courage and placed his own arm on Lance’s side. 

“Where were you born?” Lance mumbled. 

“California. You?” Keith said. Lance booed lazily.

“That’s hardly an...answer. And Florida.” Lance said, sticking his tongue out. Keith smirked.    
“Next question?” 

“Who’s your favorite singing?” Lance asked incoherently. Keith smiled and instead of answering the question, he told Lance about the oldest sharks still living in the oceans back on Earth, then about the tricks Hitchcock used for special effects in his films. Then he talked about his favorite Bermuda Triangle tales, then how he learned knife tricks off the internet. When he was absolutely sure Lance was asleep, he leaned in and left a small kiss on the bridge of his nose.

“I’m probably going to fall for you,” Keith whispered.

 

\--------

 

Keith groaned in the morning as he woke up. One of his arms was numb and sore. For a split second, he forgot where he was and panic pricked his nerves before he shifted and felt Lance’s arm lying over his shoulder and the heat from Lance’s body curled into his. Keith didn’t remember falling asleep, nor any dreams he had. He just breathed gently, trying to stay still as Lance’s breath hit his neck. He could definitely get used to this. He was able to bask in his blissful little bubble for a few more seconds before his door slid open and Hunk barreled into the room.

“Lance! Lance! Keith isn’t in his pod and I--OH MY GOD!” Hunk shouted, covering his eyes quickly. “Hide your shame!” He added. Lance had startled in the bed and was tangled in blankets again, bumping into Keith as he tried to get some idea of what was happening. Keith jumped out of his bed.

“Hunk! Please! We’re not even...stop covering your eyes!” Keith shouted, perhaps more irritated than he intended, having had his peaceful moment interrupted. Hunk shook his head and Keith walked up to him and pried his hand down from his face. When Hunk quickly glanced at both fully-clothed boys his body slumped in relief. 

“Keith! You’re back!” He said cheerfully, picking him up into one of his, now famous, hugs. Keith’s surly attitude melted instantly as Hunk shifted side to side, carrying Keith’s small frame along with him. Finally, he put him back down. “Oh man, it is so good to see you awake. And face-to-face. And gosh! Just really good, man,” Hunk said, tearing up slightly as his voice cracked at the last sentence. Keith patted Hunk’s shoulders lightly.

“It’s good to be back,” Keith said, a half-smile on his lips. Hunk’s lips quivered and Keith was ready for some waterworks, but suddenly Hunk’s focus shifted over his shoulder. Keith turned to watch Lance sitting up in his bed, yawning and scratching his neck. Keith didn’t bother trying to curb his smile. Lance looked up at him and grinned wide, flashing his teeth before his eyes shifted over to Hunk and his eyes widened and his body tensed in place. 

“Lance! Why am I not surprised?” Hunk said, his tone verging on that of a nagging parent. 

“What did  _ I _ do?” Lance asked defensively, putting his hands to his chest to further convey innocence at any charges. 

“You find Keith awake and don’t even bother telling anyone so you can hog his attention. Typical! Well the rest of us are dying to see him too, you know!” Hunk is practically wagging an accusatory finger Lance’s way. 

“I didn’t..I..” Lance shook his head.

“Actually, Coran was the one that helped me out of the chamber, Hunk. I told him I wanted to rest before seeing everyone. Sorry I worried you,” Keith said gently, looking slightly embarrassed. Hunk searched his face and gathered he was being honest and his body shifted. 

“Well, it’s almost breakfast. I’m going to tell the others you’re awake, so you better get to the dining hall ASAP. Because...Shiro’s been a real mess and you shouldn’t make him wait any longer. We’ve all...missed you. A lot. Like so much?” Hunk was on the verge of blubbering again and stopped himself. “Be there in ten!” He gave off a final command and Keith nodded sympathetically before Hunk left the room. Keith looked back to Lance, who flashed him one of his more charming smiles before they both burst out into laughter. 

 

\--------

 

Lance’s heart raced as they snuck kisses before leaving Keith’s room; snuck kisses down the hallway, down another hallway, brushed hands, laughed into each other’s shoulders. Yesterday, he was not sure he could feel this kind of happiness again, this lightness. Yesterday it was as impossible to him as catching a star in his hand. Right now, he still felt nervous, he still worried this was all a dream and that he was going to wake up, clinging to memories and scents in a lonely bed. But then Keith leaned his head against his shoulder and all of that worry fled from him, as if Keith was protecting his heart from burden. 

The welcome Keith received was overwhelmingly emotional (shocking absolutely no one), and that was putting it lightly. Lance had never seen so many faces light up, so many tears of relief falling at once. Shiro had pulled Keith into the strongest, longest hug he had ever seen. He was sure he heard his back popping more than once. Shiro still looked a mess, and Keith playfully said so, telling him he really needed to shave, the look wasn’t him at all. Shiro could only laugh and wipe at the relieved tears falling from his eyes in a constant stream. 

Pidge had latched onto Keith as well, unable to really verbally express what it was they were feeling. It was very unlike Pidge, and Lance poked fun at them for it. They got into a very heated quipping match, all the while Pidge still latched on to Keith, dragging him around with them aggressively. Finally Keith cleared his throat, making it known he was kind of hungry and maybe they could continue this sitting down and Pidge let go, embarrassed. Lance busted at the seams with laughter and Pidge tried to bite him. Lance was pretty sure he had never seen Keith smile so wide. 

Lance had to fight off the others to sit by Keith. It was the most desired spot at the table and Keith had already sat down by Pidge, so the others very nearly on the verge of playing a dangerous game of musical chairs as Lance slid into the seat and huddled in it defensively. The others conceded defeat and took places elsewhere, but still in view of Keith. 

Lance was sure Hunk had told everyone how he found them tangled up in Keith’s bed. If he knew anything about Hunk, it was his inability to keep secrets and a purity in him that made it impossible to begrudge him for it. But all through breakfast as questions were asked, Lance could feel the eyes darting between him and Keith, questioning or maybe disbelieving. Finally after thirty minutes of it he pulled Keith’s hand up on the table and held it out in the open for everyone to see. After that, the glances didn’t exactly stop, but they lessened. Lance basked in the fact that Keith didn’t seem bothered by the display and never tried to pull away. He just continued eating and drinking and answering what questions he could. 

They told Allura about the strange connection Lance seemed to have with his Lion..with Red as well. She seemed disturbed at first, but then merely surprised as they continued explaining all the events that transpired around the Blue and Red Lions. Eventually, a smile pulled at her lips as she thought to herself. They pleaded with her to tell them what she was thinking, but she dismissed it as just hypothetical theorizing, and that it wasn’t important, mumbling something about the Lions being very intuitive. However, the news was still a first. Her father had never described anything like that in the past. But both Lance and Keith noticed the twinkling in her eye that led them to believe there was more to it than that. They didn’t press the issue, they didn’t really have a chance. Pidge had taken over the conversation at the mention of the possibility of Lance connecting to two Lions in the way he had.

_ Does that mean he can connect with all our Lions? I thought the connection couldn’t be forced. Are you saying Lance can pilot Keith’s Lion? Why Lance? What’s wrong with his brain?  _

Lance would let that last one slide. He was still feeling way too euphoric to be brought down. Eventually, the conversation was on a very long tangent and Keith was feeling the urgency to check on the Red Lion again. Lance decided to go with him to offer support. 

 

\--------

 

“How bad does she look?” Keith asked.

“To be honest, on the outside, not that bad? A few extra dings and scratches, but mostly okay--aside from that leg you shoved into that swarm. The inside is pretty trashed, though,” Lance said bluntly. Keith’s grip tightened around his hand as they walked into Big Red’s hangar. Keith sucked in his breath as his eyes washed over the entirety of the Red Lion. His hand was trembling in Lance’s and he nudged Keith with his shoulder.

“Go get her,” Lance said gently, his eyebrows raised as he nodded in the Lion’s direction. Keith’s eyes were wide, unable to tear them away from the Lion and he nodded and let go of Lance’s hand stepping forward. He stumbled the first few steps, as if walking was a foreign concept. But he caught himself quickly enough and ended up jogging the rest of the way. The mouth was still shut and he peered up at the head before walking to the closest leg. He pressed his entire body against the metal and breathed slowly. He felt nothing, and pressed his ear so tightly against the surface of the leg that it suctioned down onto it. He stilled himself, held his breath. The faintest whisper of a mechanical purr rumbled and the surface turned warm against his skin. 

“I take it she’s okay,” Lance said, walking up to him. He reached up and wiped tears from Keith’s face that he hadn’t even realized were there. 

“She’s there somewhere,” Keith said, his breath trembling against the metal. He pulled back from the Lion and collected himself. 

“Go Big Red,” Lance said calmly. 

“I want to start working on her now. Like, right now,” Keith said enthusiastically. Lance nodded.

“Where do we start?” Lance said, a calm smile. Keith’s eyes widened. 

“You...want to help?” He asked, feeling somewhat surprised. For some reason, the invitation felt overly intimate. It was like Lance offering to root around in the depths of Keith’s heart. 

“If you want. Big Red helped save my life. Helped save yours too. I’d like to return the favor. If not, though, I can go work on Blue. He probably misses me,” Lance said, flashing his usual grin. Keith grimaced and raised an eyebrow. 

“You know Blue is a she, right?” Keith said.

“Nah, Blue and Sunshine are totally ‘hes’. The rest are ‘shes’ though,” Lance said stubbornly. Keith looked at him unamused. 

“Sunshine is Hunk’s Lion? Where do you come up with the names? Why Big Red?” Keith asked. Lance looked at him as though he’d said something funny. One corner of his mouth raised.

“Big Red. Like the gum?”

“But Red is one of the smallest Lions,” Keith pointed out. 

“Oh boy, Keith. Keith, Keith, Keith, what are we gonna do with you?” Lance said in amusement. Keith let the tone slide since he liked hearing the way Lance said his name. There was a newness to it. “Big Red is an ironic name. But it’s all relative. Technically Red is huge, even if she’s a smaller Lion. And yeah, Sunshine is the Yellow Lion. Pidge calls the Green Lion ‘Kitty Rose’, which I have no idea what that means. I named her Grasshopper, but Pidge vetoed  _ that _ pretty quickly, lemme tell ya!” Keith smiled at that. 

“And what do you call the Black Lion?” Keith asked. 

“For now we’re calling her Mama Hen. For various and obvious reasons. But it doesn’t quite work. Plus Shiro is not too fond of it. He says the Black Lion isn’t too keen on it either,” Lance said. 

“Probably because it’s too on the nose,” Keith muttered as an aside. Lance barked out a laugh before nodding in agreement. Keith smiled and pushed himself away from the leg of the Lion and walked towards the bottom of the head. 

“There should be a manual release here,” Keith said, feeling around. 

“That’s how we got her open the first time. But then she shut as soon as--” Lance stopped as he watched Keith press up into a spot on the Lion and the mouth came down immediately. 

“Seems to be working now!” Keith said with a wide smile. Lance looked suddenly very perturbed and was flushing red. “Something wrong?” Keith asked, walking back to him. Lance pulled himself back into the conversation and shook his head. 

“Nope. Nope. But oh man, I  _ knew _ Big Red was waiting for you. What a punk! Just like her paladin!” Lance said, his eyes on the Lion. Keith rolled his eyes before stealing a quick kiss on Lance’s neck. 

“Let’s get to work,” he said, rubbing his hands together and practically jogging towards the ramp. 

“Yeah like I’m really gonna focus after  _ that _ !” Lance croaked as he followed him. 

 

\--------

 

They took turns with the days they worked on the Lions, switching between Red and Blue methodically. Coran became more of a supervisor than an active participant. Keith picked up on things a bit more quickly, much to Lance’s chagrin.  _ Just another thing he was better at, what a show-off.  _ Keith could only grin and kiss the boy and Lance accepted defeat all too willingly. He was hopeless. 

It was only three days of working on Red before she was fully back online. The reaction from Big Red wasn’t as jubilant as Blue’s. It was a subdued roar as if the Lion was saying  _ I knew. I knew all along things would work out. You missed me, didn’t you?  _ At least that’s the only way Keith could describe it to Lance. But Lance could just  _ tell _ the Red Lion was putting up airs. Because he felt it, like a tickling at the base of his skull.  _ Thank you, for bringing us back together.  _ Lance still wasn’t sure what part he played. Maybe he never would. It was all too complicated for him. 

Occasionally Hunk and Pidge would help them work. Pidge was actually requested when the systems were brought back up. She would check them, offered to boost them before the Lions growled defensively. 

“An upgrade never hurt anyone!” Pidge said, sticking out her tongue and complained the rest of the time about how prideful the Red and Blue lion were. Such divas. 

 

\-------

 

With the added help, Lance and Keith were able to fall back into their routine with training. Keith’s time in the pod had left him pretty weakened and Lance was constantly getting the better of him. At first. But it didn’t take too long for Keith to catch up again. But he noticed that there was a new determination in Lance, one had hadn’t really seen in the past. His focus was impressive, as were his reflexes and instincts. Hunk once shared over a dinner that maybe Lance felt more determined than ever to improve because of what he wanted to protect. Keith had rolled his eyes, but still felt his face heat up at the idea. 

It was almost one month from the day Keith was out of his pod that Allura announced the scanners were no longer picking up anymore signals from the Vereltet. The group had sighed in unison, all relieved that the nightmare was over. They hoped. There was no way to know for certain. That so many showed up out of the blue again at all was disconcerting.  _ Did they multiply? Was someone trying to replicate those horrible things? _ Pidge directed a slew of questions at Allura, and Coran had to interject to get them to stop when Allura looked like she might double over from worry. 

Pidge promised to study up more on them. They could give the Galra a run for their money, that’s for sure. The thought was as satisfying as it was terrifying. Picturing the Galra running for the hills as their fleets were devoured by storms was an idea Lance shared with the group, a devious smile on his face. That was until Keith pointed out that after they did that there’d likely be no chance at stopping them from taking over system by system. It had started a heated debate between the two which forced every other member of their group to edge away into other areas of the ship to get away from the bickering. Keith and Lance had decided it worked out for the best when their heated argument turned into an equally heated make-out opportunity. 

 

\--------

 

Blue was practically good as new. Well, as good as when they had _found_ _her_ in the cave on Earth. It had been about six weeks since Keith woke from his coma and the only thing left to fix were a few cosmetic repairs. Lance decided to hold off for a little longer and help get Red back in shape. There was a lot more internal damage to the Red Lion, due to the electrical damage done to the control panels and to the leg. 

They were at a space station, bartering for very specific wires when Lance glanced over at Keith, chewing on the straw of some drink he’d ordered with Allura’s help. The station was muggy and polluted and Keith had his hair tied back again to keep it from sticking to his neck, and he was looking through a bin of wires and his brows were knit in frustration and Lance didn’t think he could look any cuter. 

“So are you my boyfriend?” Lance asked him abruptly. Keith dropped the cup into the bin and when he tried to pick it back up he knocked over the entire thing, wires and all. 

“Shit!” He shouted before bending down to pick them up. Lance knelt down to help him.    
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to uh...scare you, or whatever that was,” Lance said with a grin. Keith was pulling handfuls of wires off the ground and throwing them into the bin as some bulbous alien scowled at them. At least Lance thought it was a scowl. Who could tell with some species? 

“I wasn’t  _ scared _ . Just surprised. It’s a random question,” Keith said, frowning as he picked up more wires. 

“You still didn’t answer though,” Lance said, pursing his lips together, biting back his laughter. Keith was making it pretty hard though. 

“Of course I’m your boyfriend. Aren’t you my boyfriend? Haven’t we been boyfriends this whole time?” Each sentence Keith spoke grew in volume, as his face burned in a gradient of pink to red. He stood up with the bin stuffed full of wires and placed it back on its spot on the table. “Sorry,” he said to the vendor before he started walking away, embarrassed by his display. 

“So that makes me your  _ second _ boyfriend,” Lance said, catching up to him, hands in his pockets. 

“Lance, where are you going with this?” Keith grumbled, walking towards their dock on the station. 

“Well, it’s just that I heard from a pretty reliable source that your  _ first _ boyfriend taught you something pretty nifty. And that same source told me that you’d show it to me if I didn’t die. And here I am, still breathing,” Lance said, pulling his jacket apart, hands still in pockets, showing himself off to Keith. Keith nearly groaned.

“Oh. That,” Keith said. Lance relished in the red shades crawling up his neck. “Don’t be too sure about that because I might just strangle you, right now!” 

“Okay. What if I offer you incentive?” Lance smiled wickedly, and Keith wondered what part of his soul he was going to lose. Lance pulled a hand out of his pocket and produced a spindle of wire. The wire Keith had been looking for. Keith’s eyes widened and his mouth hung open for a second. 

“Did you steal that?” Keith asked with a raised eyebrow. Lance shrugged in response and was pulled by his lapels into Keith’s arms. “Okay, I’m only going to show you this once,” Keith said before brushing his forehead against Lance’s. “So don’t get used to it!.”

“We can’t take you two anywhere! Gross!” They heard from the side as Pidge walked up to them with a bag in each arm. Hunk was at their side, laughing and pushing a floating cart full of large parts towards them. 

“Aw, I think it’s cute. They’re in  _ loooove _ , Pidge!” Hunk said in a sing-song voice before Pidge made gagging noises. 

“I’ll show you later,” Keith whispered with a quick kiss before letting him go and focusing on the items Pidge and Hunk had in their possession. Lance deflated but at least he would have something to look forward to later. 

 

\--------

 

Red was operational shortly after that trip. Keith couldn’t put into words how good it felt to pilot her again. He had been going stir crazy in the Castle; unable to pilot a real ship, only flying around in the smaller pod ships from time to time. The feeling of his hands on Big Red’s controls again was exhilarating and unreal. He flew around for hours, rumbling through space with her, finding small obstacle courses, testing her limits, letting them understand each other all over again and become one mind. 

Lance had felt similarly, but his connection with Blue was so constant that it was hard to feel the same relief. His faith in Blue’s abilities and condition were unflappable from day one. He had compared it to the feeling one has when they were seeing someone in person again after a long time of only communicating through emails or the phone. There was no time missed, but the feeling of connection was stronger and thrilling all the same. But for Keith, his connection was more like an eruption. Red wasn’t much for words when not in action. She only roared or purred as an occasional commentary to the repairs they were making. But in flight, she was her old self again, her old spirit awakened and her mind was completely open, and man, together they soared. 

When he’d landed he was still completely and utterly wired when Lance greeted him in his hangar to ask how it was. Keith tackled him and they both fell to the ground as Keith pressed his lips to Lance’s with need and hunger. His heart was still racing and Lance was only happy to benefit from the rush. Keith pulled himself together as his entire body still vibrated with adrenaline and endorphins and he could feel it all the way down to his fingertips and toes. 

“We should race,” Lance said breathlessly, half-joking. “If this is how you’re going to be afterwards.” A crooked, toothy grin fell over his face and Keith laughed. 

“Maybe later. I think...I want to go to the training deck,” Keith said. 

“Spar?” Lance said, pulling himself off the ground. 

“Yeah. Get your armor on and I’ll meet you there in ten?” Keith agreed. Lance nodded and Keith jogged off. 

When Lance arrived, ten minutes and a few seconds later, Keith was there, but so was everyone else. The other paladins,  _ and  _ Coran and Allura were present. 

“What’s all this?” Lance asked when he noticed the other paladins in their armor too. 

“Your Lions are back, but you haven’t been able to form Voltron in months,” Coran explained. “We decided a group session was in order to see how stable your connection still is with some group exercises!” Lance thought he should feel disappointed but, really, he was excited. The last time they had all trained together was before the  _ Electric Overload _ as Lance had taken to calling the ordeal. He had only been training with Keith one on one since then.

“Cool cool,” he said, walking towards the other paladins at the center of the training deck. Hunk clapped his back and Shiro ruffled his hair before he went and stood by Keith. 

“Better show us some of those cool moves, Lance. Or I’m gonna be pretty disappointed,” Pidge taunted. 

“You’ll have to be more specific, Pidge, all my moves are cool,” Lance said with a grin. Pidge groaned before laughing. 

“Alright guys let's focus. Shields up,” Shiro ordered. Lance pulled up his shield and glanced over his shoulder at Keith. 

“You got my back?” He asked with a grin. 

“Always,” Keith said, a determined glare washing over his eyes. 

“Ready, Paladins?” Coran’s voice came on over the speakers. 

“We  _ got _ this,” Lance said loudly, and there was not a fiber in his being that didn’t believe it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you enjoyed this story. I did my best. I apologize if the ending felt rushed or convoluted. I always had an ending planned, but it had to expand when my story grew bigger than I expected. So many apologies if you find it awkward I just didn't want to drag it out once the resolution had been written. I did draw that fluff out a little though. You guys put up with 15 chapters of maybes and angst, so I tried to give a little extra. lol.
> 
> Again, thank you to everyone who commented, kudos'd, subscribed, bookmarked, y'all are great!!! You made this experience great for me.
> 
> I do have another Klance fic in the works. You can check a snippet of the opening [here](http://jessofresco.tumblr.com/post/150299113912/title-subject-to-change-missed-connxions). It'll likely be up here in a week or two! (I promise no death or angst, just comedy and fluff..I hope!) So subscribe or keep an eye out for that! :) 
> 
> Also, I have an art tumblr: [Jessadilla@tumblr](http://jessadilla.tumblr.com) which will probably also have a ton of Klance, but some other stuff as well, heh. 
> 
> Thank you a million times again for making this experience easier for me with all your support and kind words and encouragement!
> 
> ETA: [@swingingrobin](http://swingingrobin.tumblr.com) over at tumblr made a playlist of songs (from the songs I posted, as well as some additions of their own!) [Give it a listen! ](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdwtUtHfwRIMdIxiNx8dD0lZUiljNH01F). Thank you so much! :)
> 
> ETA Jan 2017: THANK YOU SO SO MUCH for your continued comments and kudos for this stories. I still get super excited whenever I receive a new one. I'm so sorry if you left a lovely comment and I didn't respond. I just honestly don't know what to say, I'm just so stunned from the overwhelming response to this story. I never thought it would get this much notice! (I know it's not like super popular or anything, but for me, this is way beyond what I expected still!) So just thank you all so much!


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